Hawzah News Agency (Beirut, Lebanon) - “Israel is a real danger at both regional and international levels. It is not only a threat to Palestine. It is not only occupying the Palestinian land. It wants to rest in Palestine, and control the entire [Middle East] region … for its own benefits,” he said on Saturday.

The senior Hezbollah official added, “All the problems of the region that we are living in originate in Israel. The US invasion of Iraq was meant to weaken the Arab country’s might… America's intervention in a number of Arab countries has also exacerbated problems there.”

Qassem further noted that the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in March 2011 and the subsequent emergence of various Takfiri terrorist groups there were Israeli plots and in favor of the Tel Aviv regime.

He also dismissed negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, saying, “Any time Israelis speak of negotiations, they ramp up their settlement expansion activities.” 

He also strongly condemned Saudi Arabia’s efforts to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel.

Qassem highlighted that US President Donald Trump’s "recognition of al-Quds as the capital of Israel blatantly exposed the US position vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue.”

On December 6, Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital and relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s policy vis-à-vis the city triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco and other Muslim countries.

On Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution that calls on the US to withdraw its controversial recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israeli “capital.”

In an attempt to avert the resolution, Trump had warned that “we’re watching,” threatening reprisals against countries that back the measure, which earlier faced a US veto at the UN Security Council.

Israel, however, rejected the world body’s resolution while thanking Trump for his decision to move US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds.

Jerusalem al-Quds remains at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinians hoping that the eastern part of the city would eventually serve as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state.

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