Beirut [Lebanon], September 20 (ANI): Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem has appealed to Saudi Arabia to restore relations with the Lebanese armed group and build a joint front against Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

The appeal came on Friday as Israel intensified its strikes on southern Lebanon. Qassem called on Riyadh to open a 'new page' with Hezbollah, built on three principles: dialogue to resolve disputes and address concerns, recognition that Israel - and not 'the resistance' - is the enemy, and 'freezing of past disagreements'.

He stressed that Hezbollah's arms were directed only at Israel. 'Not Lebanon, not Saudi Arabia, and not any other place or party in the world,' he said.

Qassem warned that pressure on Hezbollah would only aid Israel. He said that if the resistance was eliminated, 'the turn will come for the other states', Al Jazeera reported.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah have endured for years, rooted in the broader rivalry between Riyadh and Tehran, Hezbollah's main backer. In 2016, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by Saudi Arabia, designated Hezbollah a 'terrorist' group over its support for Bashar al-Assad in Syria and its backing of Yemen's Houthis.

Qassem described Israel as a colonial entity 'backed first by Britain and now by the United States', and accused it of committing atrocities. He said Israel had reached 'the height of barbarity', carrying out crimes with US support 'in disregard of international law.'

He argued that 'soft war, sanctions, and the Abraham Accords' had failed to give the US and Israel a decisive win. 'And so, for them, genocide became the solution,' he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Qassem said Israel's September 9 strike on Qatar was a turning point. 'What comes after the strike on Qatar is different from what came before,' he said, questioning US credibility. 'When the US openly declares that it acts in Israel's interest, how can we trust any American or non-American proposal, or accept to make concession after concession?'

The US has been pressing Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah under a ceasefire agreement brokered in November 2024. Qassem said the group was open to talks 'from a position of strength', while reaffirming its 'unshakable' commitment to resist Israeli occupation and liberate land.

His comments came two days after Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan in response to the Israeli attack on Qatar, Al Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said two people were killed and 11 others injured in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday. One strike targeted a car near a public hospital in Tebnin, while another hit a vehicle in Ansar.

The Israeli military claimed it killed Hezbollah commander Ammar Hayel Qutaybani in the south, without giving details of the location. It also said it killed a member of Hezbollah's elite Radwan force in Tebnin and struck 'a vessel that was used by Hezbollah to gather intelligence' in Naqura.

The raids followed Israeli strikes on several southern towns a day earlier, with warnings for residents to evacuate. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of 'intimidation and aggressions' that defied last year's ceasefire and the international monitoring mechanism attached to it.

Despite the ceasefire terms, Israel has continued near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon. The agreement called for Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw north of the Litani River, while Israel was expected to fully pull out from Lebanese territory. However, Israel remains in occupation of at least five positions in the south, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)