The leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, Naeem Qasim, has called on Saudi Arabia to join the jihad against Jews. In a televised speech, Qasim said that this is the time for Saudi Arabia to set aside its animosity towards Hezbollah, turn a new page, and begin working together against the Jews. Relations between Riyadh and Beirut have been tense due to some of Hezbollah’s actions. In addition, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2016. During his speech, Qasim stated that Hezbollah is not a threat to regional peace, stability, or national security. He emphasized that the Middle East countries need to recognize that Zionist Israel is the greatest threat to the region.
Qasim also expressed his desire to strengthen ties between Hezb ties between Hezbollah and Riyadh. “I assure you that the target of Hezbollah’s armed jihad is not Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, or any other country in the world, but Israel,” Qasim said. He added that if consultations between Hezbollah and Riyadh were to begin, it would end the disagreements between the two parties and provide an opportunity to work together against the Jews. Saudi Arabia has previously provided significant assistance to Lebanon in various sectors. Notably, after the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, the Saudi government provided financial aid to rebuild southern Lebanese towns. The relationship between Riyadh and Beirut became strained in 2021.
That year, the Saudi government expelled the Lebanese ambassador to their country and recalled their ambassador from Beirut. The reason given by the Saudi government was that all powers of the Lebanese state were in the grip of Hezbollah. In response to this incident, the former leader of Hezbollah, Al-Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, launched verbal attacks against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He also criticized the Saudi-led military operation against the Houthi armed group in Yemen.
