ISTANBUL 

The new Hezbollah chief said Wednesday that his group is not fighting on behalf of Iran, but to protect and liberate Lebanese territory.

“We in Lebanon are not fighting on behalf of Iran or to implement its project, but to protect and liberate our land,” Naim Qassem said in a recorded speech.

"For 11 months we said that we do not want war, but we are ready if it is imposed on us.”

Qassem was elected Tuesday as Hezbollah chief, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

“My program is to continue Nasrallah's approach to stay on the path of war based on developments,” he said.

“Resistance exists to liberate the land and confront the occupation and its expansionist intentions in the region,” Qassem stressed.

The Hezbollah leader said support for Gaza was necessary to “confront the danger posed by Israel to the region through the Gaza Strip, and the people of Gaza have a humanitarian, Arab, Islamic, and national right for all of us to support them.”

"This war is not just Israeli; it is also American, European, and global, involving all resources to eradicate the resistance and the peoples of the region, using all brutality, extermination, and criminality."

Israel last month launched a massive air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza.

Over 2,700 people have been killed and nearly 12,500 injured in Israeli attacks since October last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala