Hezbollah chief calls Trump’s midterm defeat ‘an opportunity’

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem hailed on Wednesday President Donald Trump’s recent midterm defeat, describing it as “an opportunity” for his Iran-backed Lebanese movement and other opponents of the US in the region. Trump’s Republican Party suffered massive losses in last week’s elections, in which the Democrats seized control of Congress. The president has admitted that the war he launched with Israel against Iran in February was a key factor in the defeat.

“Today, we have a good opportunity. Trump was defeated in the elections… an earthquake has occurred in America,” Qassem said in a speech broadcast live to supporters. “The one confronting Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen… has lost,” he added, arguing that Trump could “no longer continue as is”. “His defeat has ramifications for us that are in a way positive.” He added that Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has been broken” after he too suffered a loss in a recent election.

Netanyahu’s bloc fell well short of the 61 seats it needed to stay in power in the October 27 vote, and the Israeli president has since tasked his rival Gadi Eisenkot with trying to form a government. Hezbollah, which once dominated political life in Lebanon, has been weakened by two wars it waged against Israel since 2023. Most recently, the group drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.

Israel continues to occupy swathes of southern Lebanon. Lebanon and Israel concluded a framework agreement in June under US auspices, providing for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah, but its implementation has stalled. Qassem reiterated on Wednesday that he refused to disarm his group before an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.