Hezbollah urges Pope Leo to reject Israeli 'aggression' on Lebanon visit

Hezbollah on Saturday urged Pope Leo XIV to reject Israeli "injustice and aggression" against Lebanon, in a message to the pontiff who arrives in Beirut this weekend.

Hezbollah emerged heavily weakened from more than a year of hostilities culminating in two months of open war with Israel that began when the Iran-backed group started cross-border attacks against Israel over the Gaza war.

A ceasefire a year ago was supposed to end the hostilities but Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah operatives and sites, and has maintained troops in five southern Lebanon locations it deems strategic.

Under heavy U.S. pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, a move the group has rejected.

"We in Hezbollah take advantage of the occasion of your auspicious visit to our country Lebanon to reaffirm from our side our commitment to coexistence," read Hezbollah's message to the pope, published on the group's social media channels on Saturday.

But it also affirmed the group's commitment to "standing with our army and our people to face any aggression and occupation of our land and our country," adding that what Israel "is doing in Lebanon is unacceptable ongoing aggression."

"We rely on your holiness' stance in rejecting the injustice and aggression our nation of Lebanon is subjected to at the hands of the Zionist invaders and their supporters," the statement added.

In a speech on Friday, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem welcomed Leo's upcoming visit to Lebanon, saying he had tasked members of the group with delivering a letter to the pontiff that would also be published in the media.

He insisted his group has respected the November 2024 ceasefire and called for an end to persistent Israeli strikes on the country.

"Do you expect there to be a war later? It's possible at some point, yes, that possibility exists," Qassem said, referring to increased fears in Lebanon of a renewed, broader war.

After visiting Turkey, Leo is due to arrive in Lebanon on Sunday for a three-day trip that includes an open-air mass at Beirut's waterfront which organizers expect to draw 120,000 people, as well as an interreligious meeting in the city center.

Qassem said Friday that "we welcome this visit at this pivotal moment, and we pray that the Holy Father will contribute to spreading peace in Lebanon, liberating it, ending the (Israeli) aggression, and standing by it and by the oppressed, as we have always known him to do."