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Lebanese journalist Rami Naim said in a December 5, 2023 interview on the Voice of Lebanon that Palestinians pose a graver danger to Lebanon than the Israelis do. He criticized activity against Israel in south Lebanon, and he asked what the point is in disrupting the lives of the Lebanese residents of the region if Hizbullah is uncapable of annihilating Israel or stopping the war in Gaza. Naim added: "With all due respect, the Palestinian cause is not important to me like Lebanon and its existence."
Rami Naim: "Let's call a spade a spade. Today, the Palestinians pose a graver danger to us than the Israelis. When Israel is fighting you, you know that if you do this or that, it will kill you. But with Palestinians – how do I known whether they want to kill me or not?
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"It is not important whether the missiles are smart – what is important is that those who shoot them are smart. The equation is clear. The people shooting these missiles have not been smart so far. If I lose 100 martyrs before I even enter the war... How is that smart?
"If I am unable to annihilate Israel, unable to stop the war in Gaza, unable to hit the Israeli Ministry of Defense, and unable to hit deep inside the Israeli entity – what's the point in all the smart missiles that we hear about?
"By the same token, I can say that I'll send the people working with me at the office to conquer south Lebanon. I have access to the media, and I can tell you this from now until tomorrow. But that's not the point. What is important is what is happening on the ground.
"What is happening on the ground is that Hezbollah is losing more than a martyr a day. The families are starting to reset this. Voices are starting to be heard in south [Lebanon]. People pack up their belongings on Tuesday, and then return [to their homes] on Wednesday. They pack up on Thursday, and then return on Friday.
"The people of the south are like turtles now – they carry their homes on their backs. For whose sake are they coming and going? What is [Hizbullah] doing to the people of south [Lebanon]? They saved all their lives in order to build their homes.
"What are you going to tell them? People invested everything they have in raising their children, and now you prevent them from crying when they die. You are filming them to show that they are not crying over their children. Why? What is the point? Nothing you do is serving the Palestinian cause in any way, and it doesn't even serve Lebanon in any way.
"For me, it is not 'Lebanon first'. It is 'Lebanon first and last'. With all due respect, the Palestinian cause is not important to me compared to Lebanon and its existence. I sympathize with this cause like I sympathize with the cause of the Armenians – perhaps even more with the Armenian cause."
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