German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Deputy Director Ole Diehl met with Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem, on Saturday evening, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news organization Al Akhkbar reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The meeting in Beirut was the second time the two officials met, as in January, the two met to discuss the Iranian proxy’s attacks on the Jewish state.
According to the sources, “the session’s atmosphere was positive.”
The discussion reportedly centered on the rising tensions between the Lebanese terror organization and Israel and how a full-scale war could be avoided.
Israel ready to fight to return displaced citizens, Diehl says
The German envoy reportedly presented the Israeli desire to return the displaced residents of the North to their homes and that it would wage war on Hezbollah if necessary in order to accomplish this goal.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the residents of northern Israel “don’t feel safe to go to their homes” and that Israel had “lost sovereignty” over the northern portion of the country due to Hezbollah’s attacks.
Diehl reportedly added that a mistake made by either party could result in a war between the two sides.
In response, Al Akhkbar reported that Qassem said any discussion of Hezbollah ceasing attacks on northern Israel was linked to the achievement of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Qassem’s response echoed his comments to Diehl in January, where the Hezbollah deputy secretary-general reportedly “refused to discuss anything before [Israel] stops the war on Gaza. He urged Germany to put pressure on Israel to stop its aggression.”
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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