Hezbollah's sole aim is to stop Israeli aggression: Lebanese MP

Hezbollah's sole aim is to stop the Israeli aggression and its forces are determined to continue fighting, said Amin Sherri, Lebanese Member of Parliament for Hezbollah in an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG).

Sherri was placed on the U.S. sanctions list in 2019 over claims of financial support to Hezbollah. He talked about how the loss of Hezbollah leaders has affected the group, and shared his view on the fighting situation in the interview.

"The Israeli enemy has been unable till now to claim victory on any of the border villages. Of course there are minor infiltrations, but the tactic of our resistance forces is to inflict as much pain and casualties on the enemy, even in some clashes at zero distance or at certain distances.

On Thursday, Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi claimed that the Israeli forces had "thoroughly dismantled Hezbollah's senior chain of command." Over the past month, Israel has targeted top leaders and senior members of Hezbollah through a series of assassinations.

"No doubt we have lost some of our top leaders, but there is renovation in all the positions in the leadership, from bottom to top, whether in the political, security or military sectors. This restructuring will not take long because we always have new blood and promising generations, especially in the leadership roles in the resistance," said Sherri.

He noted that currently there is little progress in political negotiations.

"Politically there are no negotiations. Only ideas presented to our House Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati from Europe and the United States. I quote Speaker Berri, who said 'The U.S. talks too much and does very little.' Our priority is that Israel stops its aggression first. Then we can talk," said Sherri.

"Netanyahu and his far-right government want a new Middle East which is subject to the economic, financial and political interests of the Israeli enemy. We have only one condition, which is to stop the Israeli aggression against Lebanon," said Sherri.

The MP reaffirmed Hezbollah's determination to continue fighting to resist Israeli aggression.

"Let's put political differences aside. The priority for us as Lebanese is to resist Israeli aggression. Israeli aggression failed in 1993, the second time in '96, the third time in 2006, and they will fail in 2024," said Sherri.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.

Since the beginning of the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict on Oct. 8, 2023, a total of 2,593 people have been killed and 12,119 others injured in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon, according to a report released Thursday by the Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Lebanese Council of Ministers.

Hezbollah's sole aim is to stop Israeli aggression: Lebanese MP

The first Regional Workshop on Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention and Promoting Biosafety and Biosecurity in Southeast Asia was held from Wednesday to Friday in Shenzhen City of south China's Guangdong Province, aiming to strengthen regional coordination and collaboration in biosecurity. The workshop was co-hosted by China and the Lao PDR, with support from the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, and attended by government officials and experts from China and 11 Southeast Asian countries.

As the first national-level meeting of its kind, the workshop provided a platform for exchanging experiences and building consensus on enhancing regional and global biosecurity governance.

"This is a good platform to exchange good lessons and best practices from countries in the region and China. We have been active members of the international community and the party to the convention itself. I think this could further enhance this exchange in the coming years," said Daovy Vongxay, the Lao PDR's permanent representative-designate to the United Nations in Geneva.

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), referenced by Vongxay, is the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, which came into effect in 1975.

In a summary statement from the workshop, the co-chairs emphasized the importance of strengthening the international biosecurity framework, particularly through initiatives that support the BWC.

According to Sun Xiaobo, director general of the Department of Arms Control of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China and ASEAN countries share significant consensus and have ample room for collaboration on biosecurity issues.

"Through this workshop, we hope to foster increased dialogue and pragmatic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in the field of biosafety, contributing together to the construction of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future. This collaboration aims to bolster global governance on biosafety and contribute to world peace and security," Sun concluded.

China hosts first regional workshop on promoting biosafety, biosecurity in Southeast Asia