Nasrallah: Israel shivering with fear for its existence

Israel suffers from the military and psychological defeat of the 33-day war of 2006, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says, drawing attention to the occupying regime’s fear for its existence.

The secretary general of Lebanon’s resistance movement made the remarks during a televised speech broadcast by the Arabic-language al-Manar satellite television station in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday, marking the 14th anniversary of the end of Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon.

He congratulated the Lebanese on the “divine victory” in the July War, which is also known as 2006 Lebanon War, paying tribute to those Lebanese who either lost their lives or sustained injuries during the imposed war. The war resulted in the demolition of thousands of homes and the deaths of over 1,000 Lebanese civilians.

Some 162 Israelis, including 119 soldiers, were also killed during the fighting. As Tel Aviv realized that it could not bomb the resistance movement into submission, it desperately accepted UN Resolution 1701 to end the aggression.

Nasrallah also thanked all who had a role in achieving the victory against the Israeli regime in the war. He also particularly hailed the Syrian people who hosted thousands of displaced Lebanese during the Israeli aggression.

The Hezbollah chief stressed that one of the strategic outcomes of The July War was foiling the new Middle East scheme which was the main goal of the war on the Arab country.

Nasrallah said that the so-called New Middle East scheme started with the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US-led military coalition and it was meant to continue but was foiled in Lebanon.

“The Israelis now are having existential fears. They fear the entity’s existence and continuation,” the Hezbollah chief said, stressing that the military and psychological defeat the Zionists received 14 years ago still exists.

He also said that Israel “acknowledges” failure in preventing the resistance movement's strengthening in Lebanon. 

“Lebanon is strong with its resistance equation. That’s why they want to get rid of it. Their offer for us to abandon it is still valid till these days,” Nasrallah added, stressing that the doctrine of deterrence keeps growing in Hezbollah’s favor every day.

He also pointed out that after the war on Lebanon failed to defeat Hezbollah, the enemy is “resorting to every other method, and all we are witnessing now in Lebanon is a result of that.”

Beirut blast

Elsewhere in his remarks, he touched on the catastrophic explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

On August 4, a colossal explosion, the biggest ever to hit the Middle East, killed at least 172 people. Some 6,000 were injured.

Dozens of people are still missing, and at least 300,000 people have been displaced as a result of the huge blast, which leveled the whole port of Beirut and a large section of central capital and turned successive apartment blocks into masses of debris and twisted metal.

Nasrallah noted that Hezbollah does not have any narrative on the Beirut port explosion, saying, “We’re not investigating, the Lebanese state is doing the job.”

However, he put forward two possibilities, at least theoretically, regarding the deadly blast, saying it occurred either out of negligence or sabotage.

“If investigations proved that the explosion occurred out of negligence, those responsible must be held accountable and punished,” the Hezbollah chief said, stressing that if it turned out that Israel was behind the blast, it would pay the price.

Lebanon says its own Judiciary can handle probe into Beirut blast

Lebanon’s caretaker justice minister has dismissed calls for an international investigation into the recent deadly explosion in Beirut, saying the country’s judiciary can handle the probe itself.

His remarks came a day after the parliament of Lebanon approved a state of emergency declared by the now caretaker government, which needs the legal authority to put down riots following the blast.

The lawmakers’ decision came three days after Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his resignation. Four of his minister had already stepped down over the blast and the ensuing riots.

The Lebanese government is now in a caretaker status.

During the past several days, hundreds of furious people have rallied in the capital to express their strong dissent, accusing the political leadership of endemic corruption, mismanagement and negligence, and blaming the political elite for the devastating blast.

The rallies partially turned violent as dozens of protesters attacked state buildings, inflicting damage.

Nasrallah called on the Lebanese to remain patient and resilient in the wake of the deadly blast, warning that some specific factions in the Arab country were seeking to use people’s misery to take down the state.

“Some political powers in Lebanon seek to take down state for personal, foreign interests,” he said.

Nasrallah also said that Lebanon’s government needed to be supported by political factions and parliament, calling for a new Lebanese government that has political protection.

Israel-UAE deal

A much-condemned deal has just recently been signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The deal was announced on Thursday. US President Donald Trump, who apparently helped broker the deal, has attempted to paint it as a big breakthrough.

The UAE is now the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to normalize with Israel. Abu Dhabi was already believed to have clandestine relations with Tel Aviv.

Iran: UAE-Israel normalization strategic folly that boosts resistance

Iran’s Foreign Ministry vehemently condemns the recent deal aimed at normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Touching on the UAE-Israel deal, the Hezbollah chief said that certain Arab regimes heed US diktats to normalize ties with the Israeli regime, calling for the termination of such ties, which he said would end in failure if kept in place.

“We weren’t surprised by the UAE’s decision, as various forms of Israeli-UAE normalization and cooperation were already underway for a long time,” Nasrallah said, adding, “Trump has already milked the Persian Gulf states financially, religiously and morally just to serve his friend, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ]Netanyahu.”

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