Eurasia Press & News
In his first speech following his appointment on October 29, 2024, Lebanese Hizbullah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem announced, in a televised speech on October 30, that he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in all political, jihadist, social, and cultural fields, and would continue to execute the war plan set up by Nasrallah.[1]
He eulogized Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Hashem Safieddine, and also paid tribute to Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and martyr Ismail Haniyeh as icons of heroism and resistance, and a “beacon and role model for the free.”
Qassem vowed that the so-called “absolute victory” which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises would turn out to be an “absolute defeat” for Israelis, and that Hizbullah is fully prepared for a long war. He affirmed that the Lebanese resistance group would emerge victorious and more powerful after the war.
He described the resistance in Gaza and Lebanon as epic, stressing that Hizbullah would never beg for a settlement and that the war would end on the resistance’s terms, and not per Israel’s conditions. He noted that Hizbullah managed to rise and recover following the pager blasts and the assassination of the group’s senior leaders:
“To those who bet on the post-war phase, we say: You will see yourselves forced to ‘curse’ America and its allies because they lied to you.”
“With Resistance We Will Disrupt The Israeli Project, And We Are Within The Framework Of Preemptive Defense And Readiness”
At the beginning of his speech, Qassem argued that shortly following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Israeli and United States officials began conducting serious discussions about waging war on Hizbullah in Lebanon at the same time as the war in Gaza, “as long as the U.S. opens its arms depots, warehouses. and capabilities, and offered financial, political, international and media support.” He further stated that Israel had been preparing for a surprise attack on Hizbullah and studying all aspects of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” in the Gaza Strip.
He stressed that through resistance, Hizbullah had disrupted Israel’s project, by forsaking the pretext that the resistance would lose everything, and by ignoring the argument that Hizbullah should avoid giving Israel a pretext to start a war on Lebanon: “Israel does not need pretexts, and it is better for us to have a resistance with a defensive approach of attack, than to be among those who wait and do nothing [except] wait for Israel to attack us, and surprise us in one way or another…We consider ourselves within a position of preemptive defense and readiness, and this is the path of protection and liberation.”
“The Legendary Steadfastness Of The Resistance In Gaza And Lebanon Will Shape Future Generations”
The Hizbullah leader continued, expounding on the existence of an alleged Israeli project, saying that the war in the Gaza Strip and in southern Lebanon is not an Israeli war. Rather, it is a global U.S.-Israeli-European war, which offers an opportunity, on a global scale, to “eliminate the resistance and eliminate our peoples in the region.”
“This is a project, at the very least – an American Israeli project, fully adopted by America – to carry out all forms of brutality, genocide and criminality […] We are facing ugliness, brutality and criminality, and it is absolutely not permissible for us to stand by and watch, but we must confront it.”
Qassem downplayed the level of pain the group had sustained the past few weeks, asking rhetorically what the outcome could have been without a confrontation: “They want us to surrender and become submissive, so they control our lives, our future, and the future of our generations.”
He then attacked the voices promoting Western “human rights values,” saying that these sets of ideals have collapsed, because they encourage “savagery.” He added that “these people are the scum of humanity with the evil actions they commit,” and stressed that the “legendary steadfastness” of the resistance in Gaza and Lebanon is an “epic of pride” that will shape the future of generations.
“We Are Not Fighting On Behalf Of Anyone, Nor For Anyone Else’s Project, But For Our Project, Which Is To Protect Lebanon”
In an attempt to push back against claims about Hizbullah’s associations, Qassem said that the group has repeatedly stated that it is not seeking direct confrontation with Israel, but it stands ready in the event war is imposed on it: “We will face it with utmost strength, determination, steadfastness, and pride, and we will win it, Allah willing.”
He argued that Hizbullah, Amal Movement, and other forces on the front line with Israel are there on their own, having made their own decisions, based on their own will to protect their land, noting that the people fighting in the south are the owners of the land, as are the people of the valleys and mountains. “No one is fighting on our behalf,” he stressed.
“We are not fighting on behalf of anyone or for anyone’s project, we are fighting for our project, which is to protect Lebanon, liberate our land, and support our brethren in Palestine. Our project is for our country to be independent, and to prevent America and Israel from controlling us.” He continued: “This is our project, and we are paying the price, and making sacrifices for the convictions we hold dear about independence, pride and liberation – and so are the Palestinians.”
“Iran Has Been Paying A Heavy Price For Years Because Of Its Support For Palestine”
On Iran’s involvement and overall goals, Qassem said that Iran supports Hizbullah’s project and does not expect anything in return. He emphasized that Hizbullah seeks to liberate Lebanese land, and not Iranian land. Hizbullah is fighting Israel with Lebanese youth on Lebanon’s borders.
“So, it is not Iran fighting with us, as some claim, and Iran does not need us to fight on its behalf.” He added: “It is true that Iran’s convictions are similar to ours, and its faith is like ours. It is supporting us but does not want anything from us.”
Further, Qassem stated that Hizbullah would welcome any Arab or Islamic country that wishes to support the group in resisting Israel, but that was not the case. He asserted that no Arab, Western, or Eastern country had offered support and been refused. “The concern here regards those who believe in what we believe in.”
Still, Qassem extended gratitude to the late Iran’s Supreme Leader, Imam Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, for being the “initiator of the project to eliminate Israel from existence,” which he launched for the sake of the owners of the land, “those tormented people who bear the burden of Israel, be it in Palestine, Lebanon, the region, and the world.” He also praised current leader Imam Ali Khamenei, for carrying the banner and providing all financial, media, and political support necessary, and for directing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to serve and support the mujahideen, so that the Palestinian and Lebanese people live proudly.
In this regard, Qassem stressed that Iran has been paying a heavy price for decades because of its position on the Palestinian cause, noting that it could have distanced itself from the Palestinian issue and serve only its own interests, but the situation was completely different:
“Iranians know that with the honorable position of supporting Palestine, they will suffer for a period of time, but after that, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the banner of free [people] in the world.”
“We Thank Those Supporting Us On Different Fronts, Especially In Yemen And Iraq, And We Are Fighting On Our Land”
Qassem also extended gratitude to various members of the Iran-led axis, especially in Yemen and Iraq, who, he said, act based on their own “convictions,” and support Hizbullah out of a sense of responsibility and belief in liberation: “The picture is clear. We are fighting on our land and liberating our occupied land, and no one asks us for anything or obligates us to do anything, and we do not work in order to give others anything,” he insisted.
Message To Israel: “Leave Our Land To Lessen Your Losses, Or You Will Pay An Unprecedented Price”
On the course of fighting, Qassem stated that time was not on Israel’s side, because its losses are great, and it will be “forced to stop its aggression.” He added: “We are continuing to confront the aggression, and if the enemy wants to stop it, we will accept the conditions that we see as appropriate, and the basis of any negotiation is a ceasefire first.”
Addressing Israel, Qassem said that it “will inevitably be defeated,” because, he argued, the land belongs to them, and “our people are united around us.”
“Leave our land to lessen your losses or you will pay an unprecedented price,” he declared, vowing that as Hizbullah came out victorious from the 2006 war, it would win again today:
“The party will emerge from this confrontation stronger and victorious.”
