Hezbollah: Netanyahu should be fearful; resistance our only option

Hezbollah's secretary-general issues a strong warning to Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister threatened to assassinate him.

“Your threat to assassinate me has no taste and no value. You are the one who should fear for yourself," Sheikh Naim Qassem said during an address on Friday, marking the International Quds Day.

He reaffirmed Hezbollah’s determination, stating, “There is no such thing as defeat or surrender in our dictionary. We will remain strong in the field, no matter the sacrifices and offerings. We will not retreat, because this concerns our existence; this is an existential battle, not a limited or simple battle."

'Enemy to be surprised on battlefield'

“We have prepared ourselves for a long confrontation, they will be surprised on the battlefield, the enemy will see our might, and its threats do not frighten us," Sheikh Qassem assured.

He warned of Lebanon’s fate without resistance, “There is no solution except through resistance, otherwise, Lebanon is headed towards erasure.”

Sheikh Qassem stressed that the country faced an existential threat from Israeli aggression, calling it “a dangerous, brutal aggression.” He noted, “We were not in a sound situation; rather, we were facing barbaric actions that have been ongoing for 15 months."

The Hezbollah secretary-general was pointing to the regime's recurrent violations of a 2024 ceasefire deal with Hezbollah that was supposed to end Tel Aviv's deadly escalation towards Lebanon.

He explained that Hezbollah had consulted at leadership levels over three meetings before deciding to confront the aggression.

In addition to the violations, Hezbollah has been motivated to confront the aggression due to the regime's recent participation in joint aggression with the United States against Iran, which has resulted in the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as well as many other atrocities.

The Hezbollah leader, meanwhile, addressed the issue of the International Quds Day, an occasion so designated by the late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini as a means of galvanizing international support for the Palestinian cause of liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression.

Sheikh Qassem recalled the words of Imam Khomeini, noting that al-Quds Day “is an international day that is not specific to al-Quds alone, but a day for the oppressed to confront the oppressors.”

He added, “This day holds symbolism in the call for the liberation of Palestine, and it holds symbolism in extending to all the oppressed in the world so they may be freed from the yoke of slavery and injustice."

He condemned the Israeli regime's continued Western-backed occupation of Palestine, saying the occupation "is the greatest injustice in the world today.”

Sheikh Qassem denounced the United States and other major powers for sponsoring and legitimizing the occupation in 1948, describing it as “a cancerous growth."

As a case in point concerning the regime's Western-backed crimes, he cited Tel Aviv's ongoing war of genocide against the Gaza Strip that has either killed or injured around 260,000 people so far.

Sheikh Qassem reaffirmed Hezbollah’s support for Palestine, stating, “We, as Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance, will remain with Palestine; we support and back it for the sake of full liberation.”

The resistance leader emphasized collective responsibility, saying, “All Arab and Islamic peoples are responsible for standing with al-Quds and Palestine, as are all free people in the world, because by doing so, they stand with themselves against the tyrants."

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