Orinoco Tribune, January 14, 2024 —
The resistance leader said that ending Hezbollah’s operations against Israel can only be discussed when the war on Gaza ends.
Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, vowed during his speech on 14 January that no amount of US pressure or “intimidation” will stop the Lebanese resistance from continuing its daily operations against Israel.
“The Americans threatened Lebanon, saying that if the southern front was not de-escalated, Israel would wage a war against the country … Your intimidation will not work, neither today, nor tomorrow, nor any day,” Nasrallah said.
He added that the Israeli army has been defeated in Gaza and that this “decimated” military is “welcome” to try launching a war on Lebanon.
“The Israeli army, when it was in good shape and fully equipped, was destroyed in the face of our resistors during the July War of 2006 … Israel and its settlers are the ones who should fear war, not Lebanon,” he went on to say.
“We have been ready for war for 99 days, and we are not afraid of it. We will fight without limit [if war is imposed on us].”
Nasrallah confirmed once again that the Lebanese front was opened “to support Gaza and stop the aggression against it … and when the aggression stops, then [closing the front] can be discussed.”
“The Americans, who claim to be concerned for Lebanon, must fear and be concerned for their tool (Israel) … in the region.”
Prior to Nasrallah’s speech on Sunday, eight operations were carried out by Hezbollah against Israeli military sites on the Lebanese border.
The resistance leader also condemned during his speech the recent US-UK assault on Yemen, which came as a response to the Red Sea attacks on Israeli-linked shipping and vessels bound for Israel, carried out by the Ansarallah resistance movement and Yemeni Armed Forces.
Several were killed in the US-British attack on Yemen on 12 January.
The US followed up with more strikes on Yemen on 13 January, targeting the vicinity of Sanaa International Airport – which has been under a Saudi-led blockade for nine years.
“If Biden and those with him think that by aggression against Yemen, they can prevent the Yemenis from continuing their operations [in support of Gaza], then they are ignorant,” Nasrallah said.
“The American aggression is what will harm the security of maritime navigation in the Red Sea, which will turn into a battlefield … this is stupidity in itself,” he added.
Yemeni operations have not killed or injured anyone. They aim to target Israeli-linked ships or vessels bound for Israeli ports in order to prevent goods from reaching Israel while the people of Gaza are blocked from receiving aid.
Yemen’s Armed Forces have vowed that all other ships are free to navigate as they please, and have expressed willingness to cease their attacks if the war on Gaza is ended and if sufficient aid reaches the Palestinians.
Nasrallah also praised the Iraqi resistance’s recent attack on Israel, as well as its ongoing operations against US bases in Iraq and Syria.
With regard to the Gaza Strip and the ongoing battles there, Nasrallah confirmed that Israel is “drowning in failure,” praising the fierce resistance put up by the Qassam Brigades and other groups in Khan Yunis, as well as elsewhere in Gaza.
He added that Israel has not achieved any of the goals it set out to achieve upon launching the war on Gaza, “neither the publicly stated goals nor the hidden goals.”
“The Israelis have become assured that their government is incompetent and must be changed … This is an admission of failure in itself … If the current path [of resistance] continues in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, the enemy government will accept the conditions of resistance,” Nasrallah asserted.