Beirut: Hezbollah leader Naim Qassim has admitted that the conflict in Syria has also affected the route through which their weapons reach. In his first televised address on Saturday since the fall of the Assad government, Qasim acknowledged the disruption. He said the supply route could be restored once new arrangements are established, or Hezbollah could seek alternative routes. Israel is bound to be happy with this blow to Hezbollah. “Yes, Hezbollah has lost the military supply route through Syria at this stage, but this loss is a statement of the resistance’s work,” Qasim said. He said, ‘A new order can come and this path can be normal, or we can look for other ways.’ Hezbollah fighters used to fight for Assad. Last week, as rebels approached Damascus, the group monitored the withdrawal of its fighters to help crush rebels trying to oust him from power. The Assad family’s rule of more than 50 years has now been replaced by a caretaker government formed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former al-Qaeda affiliate that led the rebel attack. Appealing to Syria’s new rulers, the Hezbollah chief also said Syria’s new rulers should not recognize neighboring Israel or establish relations with it. Such convoys were often targeted by Israeli air strikes, but the terrorist group was still able to arm itself with heavy weapons. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. A coalition of militant groups led by the group captured Damascus on December 8, leading to the fall of Assad’s government. Qassim said Hezbollah can only assess the new government once it is stable and makes its position clear. “However, we hope that the Lebanese and Syrian peoples and governments will continue to cooperate,” he said.
