Speech by the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on January 3, 2024, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the assassinations of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Source: Al-Manar
Translation: Resistance News
[…] I finally come (to the situation) in Lebanon to say the following: when we opened a front (against Israel) on October 8, in reality, and to be very honest and frank with you, we did it as a (pious act aimed at) bringing us closer to God Almighty, and as a support to our oppressed people in Gaza and in order to lighten the burden weighing on them. We have talked about it (several times) and explained our vision, and (in my speech scheduled for) Friday, I will come back to this point to explain it further, but we entered the scene with all sincerity. Our intervention was based on what I mentioned a moment ago. Our decision made a distinction between the strategic vision (from the point of view of the Israeli-Arab struggle), the need to support Gaza and the need to take into account Lebanese national interests. Ultimately, we live in a country that has difficulties, complications, circumstances and challenges. We weighed all of that and went for this fighting formula, and it’s a very effective, very strong, very big fight. Hundreds of operations have been carried out so far, a large number of martyrs have fallen in our ranks [more than 150], not to mention the wounded and sacrifices, and we have made great gains and important achievements on the ground. I will talk about it in detail on Friday, with the grace of God. I hope I have aroused your curiosity for this upcoming speech).
But I must draw your attention and the attention of all the Lebanese to something bigger and more important than the blessings of our entry into the battlefield on October 8, something that later became clear, from what been revealed regarding discussions within the enemy government, particularly the restricted government. Listen, my brothers and sisters, on October 7 and 8, the Israelis went crazy. They entered into a state of intense madness and anger. Of course, the fear for their existence, what Gantz called the “Second war of survival”, created a kind of national unity and led them to overcome the divisions that prevailed. So it was an opportunity in their eyes. The reserves were called up. There were more than 500,000 officers and soldiers between the regular army and the reserves. It was an additional opportunity. Israel had mobilized all its weapons and capabilities, and the Americans arrived quickly in the region, which was also an opportunity for Israel. And here is what was proposed to the Israeli government. It was later revealed, and (the neutralization of this plan) is one of the blessings of the rush of the Resistance in Lebanon to open a front of support for Gaza. Let me explain: Israel’s leaders felt they now had a historic opportunity to end all threats to their entity, namely Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Resistance factions in Gaza. “This is the perfect time to destroy them,” they said to themselves. The same goes for the Resistance in the West Bank: “Let’s annihilate them.” And the same for Lebanon: “Let’s annihilate it. Now is our historic chance to put an end to the threat posed by the Resistance in Lebanon, the threat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, because now the whole world is with us, and the whole world is panicking with us, standing in solidarity and considering that we are oppressed and afflicted (on October 7), now is our historic opportunity.” This was their reasoning.
But this planned war against Lebanon was prevented by two things.
The first thing is that the Resistance’s rush to open the front caused the Israeli enemy to lose the element of surprise. If the front of Lebanon had been calm, oh my brothers and sisters, on October 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12, you would have woken up in the middle of the night while Israel was destroying everything in this country, because the international community was with them and the whole world was with them, and they saw this as his historic opportunity. They were seriously considering it, but the Resistance opened the front and mobilized its forces, and Israel knows that on October 8 and 9, we mobilized all our missile capabilities, mobilized our soldiers, emptied the training camps and took all the measures to potentially enter into war, so that the element of surprise was removed.
The second thing (which prevented a full Israeli attack against Lebanon) is the strength of the Resistance in Lebanon, the greatness of the Resistance in Lebanon, the courage, the audacity and the firmness of the Resistance in Lebanon. Because you know it, and he knows it, if he goes to war with Lebanon and at the same time leads a war against Gaza… Of course, the Americans advise Israel “not to rush straight into the wall”. Not for the good of the Lebanese, but for the good of the Israelis, and they did their best to dissuade them, because war with Lebanon would be costly and exorbitant and could threaten the existence of the entity. That’s why Israel gave up on this plan. They considered that what they started in Gaza could terrify the Lebanese. You know, the most important message that the Resistance sent to Lebanon on October 8, 9 and 10 when it opened the front along the entire length of the border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hermon, is that it is a courageous, daring and strong Resistance that fears no one, is not afraid of anyone, is not deterred and does not stop at any consideration when it comes to defending its people and homeland. This is the strong message we sent to Israel.
Therefore, there were debates and disagreements, and they could not make a decision (to go to war against Lebanon). There is an Israeli general who spoke clearly two and three times on this subject. He said: “I went to Netanyahu personally and sat with him twice, and convinced him not to open a battle with Lebanon because it would lead to the destruction of the Gush Dan region.” Do you know what it is ? Gush Dan is this rectangle near Tel Aviv, an area that contains three quarters (of the population and infrastructure) of Israel. What has prevented Israel until now from launching an aggression against Lebanon is that there is force in Lebanon, that there is Resistance in Lebanon and that there are men of God in Lebanon. This is the reality of the situation.
What we are doing at the border, if this Resistance force did not exist today… Our young people (fighters) speak of 700 operations or more (launched by Hezbollah against Israel since October 8). In the past, just one of these operations would have been enough for Israel to launch a war against Lebanon. Why didn’t they do it now? Is it because Lebanon is weak? Is it out of respect for the international community, international resolutions, or for all these ridiculous reasons (invoked by Hezbollah’s adversaries)? Or is it because Lebanon is strong and will repay Israel tit for tat, plus interest? All that you hear, oh my brothers and sisters, in terms of threats and intimidation (from Israel against Lebanon)… Listen, yesterday they attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut, and what happened is very dangerous. There are two points: there is the assassination of Sheikh Salah (al-Arouri) and his brothers, and that in itself is a very great crime, and there is the fact that the aggression took place in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and this is the first time that this has happened in this form since 2006. Yesterday, during the night, messages reached us, and then some Israeli officials declared through the media that they did not want to target Lebanon, that they did not target Hezbollah, and that Hezbollah is not concerned by what happened because Israel only has a problem with the Hamas leadership. “We have settled our accounts with the Hamas leadership and you are not concerned,” they tell us. Who can say such absurd and pitiful things? Children, cowards. All the intimidation and threats you hear (from Israel are empty talk)… Of course, now I don’t want to threaten or intimidate (Israel in return). I will just rely on all the past to say two sentences by way of conclusion of my speech.
The first sentence is that until now we are fighting on the front with precise calculations, and for this reason we are paying a heavy price in the lives of our young people (fighters who fall martyrs). I will detail this point on Friday. But if the enemy thinks about waging war on Lebanon, let him know that then our fight will take place without ceilings, without borders, without rules, without restrictions, and he knows very well what I mean. Our men, our missiles, our capabilities, our resources, our threats, everything we have mentioned over the last few years (will be fully unleashed). Maybe talking a lot doesn’t help. It is enough to recall all this to declare that we are not afraid of war, we do not fear it, we will not hesitate. If we were afraid, we would have stayed back (after October 7). The Americans threatened us (not to intervene after October 7), and the French came to bring us long and numerous letters, as did the English and the Germans, everyone without exception. Did we stop? Have we gone backwards? Did we hesitate? Never.
Whoever thinks of launching a war against us, I say in one word, he will regret it, with the grace of God. The war with us will be very, very, very costly. If, until now, we have managed the Lebanese situation by weighing Lebanese national interests, know that if a war is launched against Lebanon, then Lebanese national interests will require that we wage the war completely and to the end, without any restrictions whatsoever.
Regarding yesterday’s incident (the assassination of Salah al-Arouri), the Resistance promised (that it would systematically respond to such attacks), even if it was in different circumstances: there was no of war, and many equations of the conflict have been turned upside down (since October 7), but this will not change the promise at all. Yesterday’s crime is a major and dangerous crime and cannot be tolerated, and this issue does not need much discussion. As we said yesterday in Hezbollah’s statement: this serious crime will not go unanswered and unpunished. It will not go unanswered and unpunished. Between us and you, (oh Israelis), there is the land, the days and the nights.
See you soon, with the grace of God.
May God’s peace be upon you, along with His mercy and blessings.
***
Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, on January 14, 2024, on the occasion of the commemoration of the martyrdom of Hezbollah Commander Wissam Hassan al-Tawil.
Source: Al-Manar
Translation: Resistance News
[…] I now come to Lebanon. The front that we opened in Lebanon (against Israel), you follow it on a daily basis and you are its supporters and architects, throughout the 99 days of fighting that have passed. I will start by returning to a point that I raised last week, namely the extent of the (Israeli) enemy’s cover-up (of its losses). I will then come to the threats (to attack Lebanon) and intimidation that they recently reiterated.
The enemy conceals the losses inflicted by the strikes it suffers (both in Gaza and in southern Lebanon). I will not dwell on the destruction of its armored vehicles and others, but will only give one example, that of the Meron military base. You have seen in the media the importance of this base [the only air surveillance and control center in northern Israel], which is one of the two most important in the entire Zionist entity, this one being in the north, and the other being in the south. It monitors not only the border area with Lebanon, but all of Lebanon, Syria, a large part of Turkey, Cyprus, and the entire northern Mediterranean Sea. It is equipped with considerable capabilities and is at the cutting edge of technology. It has no equal (in all Israel).
So we targeted it, and now I come to the details (of the operation). The enemy did not recognize (that this base was struck). What did he say ? He said that “Missiles fell in the vicinity of a strategic installation.” Look carefully at the words: “in the vicinity of a strategic installation”. He did not acknowledge that missiles hit a strategic installation. But what the Resistance did, because we filmed (our operation)… I compared this operation against Meron with, if you remember, the operation [against the Israeli controlled post in southern Lebanon] al-Dabshe in the 1990s: when the Resistance entered this base, Israel strongly denied it, saying that no one had gone inside. Two days later, the Resistance broadcast the video, and we saw the brother of Nabatiyeh who subsequently fell martyr planting our flag in the base, and “The disbeliever then remained confounded” [Quran, II, 258]. When the Resistance released the video, the enemy admitted that the Meron base had been struck. This is a telling example [of the concealment of enemy losses]. But if we did not have video, if we did not have images, a qualitative operation of such magnitude as the targeting of the Meron base would have remained doubtful. Hezbollah would have said something, the enemy would have denied it, saying that all the missiles would have fallen in an empty field. In terms of psychological warfare, this is something very frustrating for the fighters and for the masses who support the Resistance. Because when the enemy declares that our missiles only hit empty lands, this means that our young people risk their lives for nothing when they expose themselves to fire these missiles. The video therefore showed the result of our strikes (with direct impacts).
O my brothers and sisters, the Resistance fired 62 rockets, 40 Katyusha rockets – you know that these are not precise rockets, and they hit large areas of land – and 22 special Kornet missiles of the latest model. We saw 2 or 3 fall near the base, but despite this, we included them in the video, for the sake of transparency. But I confirm to you that 18 Kornet missiles hit their target precisely inside the Meron base. The video we released does not reveal the whole truth, all the damage caused to the Meron base. These are just some of the missiles and some of the targets that were hit. After this video, the enemy was forced to admit that a certain number of equipment had been hit, but he claimed to be working to replace them. But yesterday, enemy media revealed that the Meron base had been completely destroyed. In the images you see the huge globes, but it is not the globe that is important, it is the technical equipment it contains, which is destroyed when the missile explodes inside. Our information confirms that our strikes also caused human losses in the Meron base, although the enemy did not report anything of the sort.
When we launched this operation, we declared that it was our first response to the assassination of the martyred commander Sheikh Saleh [al-Arouri] and his brother Hamas leaders [killed in the southern suburbs of Beirut by an Israeli strike]. Israel tried hard to minimize this response by hiding the truth, but the video demonstrated the lies of the enemy, and the truth of our statements. During our second strike against the northern zone command base in Safed [in the Upper Galilee], if, in the heart of the base, a soldier had not filmed the scene with his phone and broadcast the images, as well as from the settlers of Safed, (we would have no proof, as) the enemy said that our drones fell in empty areas and did not hit the base. But he was forced to admit that a certain number of Resistance drones struck inside this base, and spread terror in the base and its surroundings, both among the soldiers and among the settlers. This is just one example of the effectiveness of the front [which we opened in the north of occupied Palestine on October 8, and which killed hundreds of Israeli soldiers and injured thousands, even though the enemy keep it secret].
Hezbollah infographic summarizing 120 days of operations against Israel, from October 8, 2023 to February 4, 2024 at 2 p.m., as part of the Battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood.
– 961 military operations
Enemy losses:
– 56 vehicles (4 logistics vehicles, 28 personnel carriers, 24 tanks)
– 26 command centers
– 178 bunkers and positions in sites and settlements
– More than 500 settlement units destroyed
– 237 technical equipment (visibility shields, electro-optical devices, radars, communication and intelligence devices, jamming devices)
– 311 staff positions
– 2 military factories
– 25 border walls
– 14 artillery locations
– 2 Iron Dome platforms
– 5 drones and planes
Casualties :
More than 2,000 dead and injured.Operation rate:
– The average number of operations per day is 8
– The highest number of operations is 26
– The lowest number of operations is 2Targeted border sites:
– 22 localities were targeted 72 times.
– 45 border sites targeted 670 times.
– 19 back sites targeted 61 times.
– 53 border points targeted 122 times.Evacuation of settlers:
– 5 km: radius of the evacuated zone.
– 43: Number of evacuated colonies announced.
– 81,000: Number of displaced settlers announced.
– 230,000: Actual number of settlers displaced.Documentation:
– 186 targeting scenes distributed to the media.
– 98 press releases.Weapons used (the figures mentioned correspond to the number of shots/launchs as a military action and not to the number of projectiles or missiles) :
– Artillery: 323
– Surface-to-surface missiles: 244
– Sniper rifles and machine guns: 68
– Air defense: 40
– Air attacks (drones): 23
– Guided missiles: 385
– Direct weapons: 85
– Engineering weapons: 9
– Various weapons: 72:
On the road to Al-Quds.
Why does the enemy hide its (human and material) losses? If we did not reveal Israeli losses by broadcasting videos [see them in particular on this Telegram channel], they would deny them outright. For our part, when a martyr falls in our ranks, we announce it after a few minutes. The only delay is that required to first inform his family. We announce our losses with pride and honor, and our communiqués begin with “The Islamic Resistance congratulates” its martyrs, using the term specific to the congratulations addressed to the spouses during wedding ceremonies, while the Israeli enemy conceals its killed, its wounded, its human and material losses, its defeats, even when they are of a strategic level. Israel is covering it all up. For what ? The enemy’s media answer this question, and when it is the enemy itself who recognizes it, it is even more to our honor: when the Israeli media ask why the army does not talk about its 4 000 mutilated, nor the fact that a total of 30,000 disabled is already projected, they respond that if these truths were revealed, it would cause a dangerous demoralization of the Israeli people. If Israel announced all these truths, today we would see massive demonstrations demanding the resignation of Netanyahu, the fall of the government, an end to the aggression against Gaza, etc. This is a policy of the enemy which strives to conceal the achievements of the Axis of Resistance.
See War in Gaza: Decoding Nasrallah’s speeches
We will therefore continue our action, and the front that we have opened is inflicting human and material losses on the enemy, not to mention the pressure posed by the more than 200,000 displaced people from the settlements in northern Israel. In recent weeks, these displaced people have made their voices heard through increasingly loud protests calling for this front (opened by Hezbollah) to be closed. Several Western countries have sent delegations, diplomats, intelligence services or security services to Lebanon to push us to stop our operations, through declarations, calls, intimidation, threats, etc. (but in vain). This has been happening since the beginning, but what is new is that we are not threatened anymore with US strikes, it’s over. The United States has a lot of work to do to extricate itself from the quagmire it has found itself in against Yemen. What is new is that we are being told that if we do not immediately cease military operations… I am not saying this to scare you, but so that we can clearly announce our position and that we come at the level of this position, at the level of the sacred deposit constituted by the blood of the martyrs (fallen on the path of the Resistance) and the sacrifices made over 100 days of fighting, whether in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Yemen, in Syria, in Iran, wherever blood has been shed under this standard and for the (Palestinian) cause… We are now threatened with an Israeli war against Lebanon if we do not stop military operations. “You must stop immediately,” we are told. But we have been threatened with war for 100 days, and nothing of the sort has happened. Even today, we carry out operations, they threaten us with (American or Israeli) war, and nothing of the sort has happened. Is this going to happen or not? I’m about to answer the question.
This intimidation was of no use for 99 or 100 days. And I tell them that their threats will be of no use, neither today, nor tomorrow, nor in a month, nor in two months, nor ever. They are wasting their time. They told us — well not directly to us Hezbollah, but to the Lebanese who serve as intermediaries between us — that in Gaza, the Israeli enemy will enter the third phase of operations, which means that it will withdraw a large number of its military brigades, 6 having already left according to the media, and that it will send these brigades to the north of occupied Palestine, to face us (Hezbollah). This is the threat that has been made against us. Seriously? See what they threaten us with: they threaten us with exhausted, terrified, morally dejected troops, a large number of officers and soldiers of whom have been killed in Gaza… These troops are withdrawn to rest anyway, these are empty threats. They were defeated in the north of Gaza, and they are coming to threaten us? This threat is ridiculous. We welcome them. We welcome them to Lebanon! There are already 100,000 soldiers at our gates, add a few more, and may God bring about the best! These 100,000 (fresh and ready) soldiers did not scare us, will adding a few brigades change anything? Especially these brigades (bled white in Gaza and exhausted)! It’s not (just) me saying this, listen to the military spokesperson of the Israeli army, who I mentioned in my last speech, when he explained why the 3 Israeli prisoners who escaped in Gaza were shot down by their own army: “We have been fighting for a month and a half, our army is exhausted, demoralized, etc.” And it is with this army that you come to threaten us in the north? We welcome this army (which we are ready to annihilate)! The army which was in full force, in full health, with high morale, and explicit threats, was broken, annihilated and defeated in July 2006 on the hills of Bint Jbeil, Maroun al-Ras, Ayt-al-chab, Ayt Aroun, etc. (the first villages on the Lebanese-Palestinian border, which Israel was unable to occupy in 33 days of war). It was Israel who waved the white flag, it was Israel who called for the ceasefire in 2006, it was not us. This is why this threat is vain in our eyes, and does not change anything in our actions.
What I mean specifically in this regard, as I have said in the past, if Israel wants to launch a full-scale war, are we dead, are we sleeping, are we not ready to retaliate (in kind)? Are we going to shut up? This is absolutely impossible! Is Israel threatening to launch a war against us? O my brothers and sisters, the one who must be afraid of war, who must dread it, is Israel, it is the enemy government, the enemy people, the enemy settlers and the enemy army! They are the ones who must be afraid of going to war against Lebanon! During the first days (after October 7), they were all terrified at the idea that Hezbollah would go to war against Israel! But our decision and our vision were clear, we explained and argued them several times, and opened this front. But for 99 days, we have been ready for (total) war. We do not fear it, we do not dread it, we will not hesitate for a moment! We will welcome it with open arms, and as I said, we will fight against it without limit, without restraint, without measure! And the United States, which tries to show concern for Lebanon, fearing for Lebanon’s security, would do better to worry about its instrument in the region (Israel), its advanced military base which is Israel! If they put pressure on Lebanon, it is only to preserve Israel, to stop or reduce the intensity of this front that we have opened! If this front was not effective and burdensome for Israel, why would there be a need for all these threats, intimidation and pressure from the United States (and its allies), and to make proposals that contravene the interests, the sovereignty and dignity of Lebanon? This is why our position regarding these threats is very clear. The Lebanese front is there to help Gaza, to support Gaza, to stand with Gaza, and its objective is to end the aggression against Gaza. Let the aggression against Gaza stop, and then, as far as Lebanon is concerned, we will see… The Iraqis say the same: let the aggression against Gaza stop, and then, we will see… The Yemenis say the same thing. If the United States had a brain, if it were capable of understanding, if it were not blinded by its racism and its arrogance, it would understand that the security of the Red Sea, the calm on the Lebanese front, the situation in Iraq and all developments in the region depend on one thing: stopping the aggression against Gaza. You came to fix the consequences and repercussions, but you better fix the cause! And in the end, the United States, Britain, Israel and the whole world will face one truth: they will hear it in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Iran, in Yemen, in Palestine, in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in any place in the region where there is a voice and a gun of the Resistance, “Stop the aggression against Gaza!” before anything else, and after that, we’ll see…
This is our noble, humanitarian, moral front, through which we express our solidarity, help, support and defend our brothers oppressed, tortured and attacked in Gaza and occupied Palestine, in the hope that all this pure blood shed, including the blood of the martyr commander Hajj Jawad, his companions and his brothers, and all the martyrs on all fronts, all this blood that has been shed in the path of God and for His eyes, Exalted be He, will only lead to victory, to the promised honor and dignity, with the grace of God.
Donate to support this work and subscribe to the Newsletter to get around censorship.
Resistance News Unfiltered 