Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has hailed President Donald Trump's midterm election defeat as an "opportunity" for his movement and for other opponents of the United States in the region, describing the result as an "earthquake" in America.

Qassem, the secretary-general of the Iran-backed Lebanese group, was speaking on Wednesday at an event honouring Hezbollah members killed by Israel, Al Jazeera reported. He said the Republican losses in last week's US elections, and a poor showing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's own polls, were good news for Lebanon.

"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," Qassem said.

Netanyahu's setback

Qassem also described the Israeli elections as a "defeat". Netanyahu's bloc fell short of the 61 seats needed to stay in power after the vote on 27 October, leaving the Israeli prime minister's political future uncertain.

Trump himself has admitted that the war he launched with Israel against Iran in February was a key factor in the Republicans' defeat, in which the Democrats seized control of Congress. US Vice President JD Vance made the same point last week, saying: "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so."

Qassem praised Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz for pushing up global oil prices and disrupting shipping routes, saying it would weaken American and Israeli influence in the region.

No disarmament under occupation

The Hezbollah leader used the speech to repeat that the group will not give up its weapons while Israeli troops remain on Lebanese soil. "There will be no state monopoly on the resistance's weapons, no regulation, no prohibition, and no disarmament under Israeli occupation," he said.

That position puts Hezbollah in a direct standoff with Lebanon's US-backed President Joseph Aoun, who is pressing for the group to relinquish its arms. Washington wants Hezbollah disarmed, but the group says doing so would amount to surrender to Israel.

Qassem urged Lebanese factions to work together instead of relying on Washington. "Come, let us rebuild our country together, save it from the darkness of failure, and protect it from the empty rhetoric of those who sow discord and those who rely on American tutelage," he said. "Lebanon belongs to all of us. We are partners in building it and sharing the cost of protecting its sovereignty."

Qassem took over as secretary-general after Israel assassinated his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine in 2024. After the United States and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran in February, Hezbollah's retaliation with missiles and drones into Israel led to weeks of intense Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, in which more than 4,300 people were killed, Lebanese authorities say, and around a million were displaced, according to the United Nations.

Although Israel and Lebanon negotiated a ceasefire with US mediation in June, Israel continues to bomb southern Lebanon and still occupies large areas of the south, where it has destroyed dozens of the roughly 60 villages and towns under its control.