Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech Tuesday via video marking the 4th anniversary of the July 2006 war : “We are celebrating the July victory, but what happened today was a heroic confrontation fought by the Lebanese army.”
The Lebanese message was very clear: Lebanon, the whole of Lebanon, will not tolerate any violation of even one hand span of its sacred land.
What we witnessed today was one of the forms of this aggression, but the army’s retaliation was courageous despite its modest capabilities.
Israel’s aggression on Lebanon has never stopped. The Israeli war machine stopped, but there are violations against Lebanon that are still persistent, topped by Israel’s violations of Lebanese territory — over 7,000 violations of 1701.
“It was wise to stand behind the army, but we told the army’s commander: “The Resistance is at your disposal.”
“Since the first moment of the confrontation, the Resistance was put on maximum alert and we told our brothers in the South to remain calm and not interfere in the clashes. The Resistance placed itself at the service of the LAF.”
“Some people ask why Hezbollah was cautious and did not interfere in the clashes today. Let me tell you, first, that some people will say that Hezbollah is waiting for an opportunity to explode the situation in Lebanon and obstruct the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Others say that Hezbollah will abide by Iran and Syria’s orders.”
Nasrallah warned that “the Resistance would no longer stand idly if Israel attacks the Lebanese army.”
“The LAF protects the Resistance, just as the Resistance protects the LAF, and the Lebanese people protects the LAF and the Resistance. This is the formula.”
Spies
He addressed the issues of spying by Israel and said :
The extent of Israel’s infiltration of Lebanon’s telecom sector is a great risk .
What does uncovering more than 100 Israeli collaborators in Lebanon signify?
How many spies are still operating in this country?
Uncovering such spies weakens Israel. The Resistance was, and will, remain ready to assist the security forces, especially in the telecom field.
Work should be maintained to continue the spy probe, and we must not be tolerant in any way on this issue.
We demand a quick implementation of the death sentences against Israeli collaborators.
Defense strategy
He addressed the issue of defense and Liberation strategy:
I reiterated my call to design a strategy to liberate the Lebanese lands occupied by Israel, instead of just talking about a national defense strategy.
He added:
We are capable of having the best liberation strategy and the best national defense strategy.
Tripartite summit
We welcome and praise Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visits to Lebanon [last Friday].
The Baabda summit is meant to protect Lebanon. We should all collaborate to calm the situation [in Lebanon]. We welcome Arab efforts [on Lebanon].
We welcome Saudi-Syrian rapprochement because [it benefits] Lebanon.
Also, on Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani’s visit to Lebanon and tour of the South [last weekend], the Lebanese thank Qatar for its support.
We are also expecting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit Lebanon after mid-September.
(Yesterday the Iranian ambassador said , no date has been set for Ahmadinejad ‘s visit to Lebanon)
Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)
We all want the truth and refuse politicization of issues, just as we want justice, not only for the family of Rafik Hariri.
I will hold a press conference on Monday, August 9, at 8:30 p.m., in which we will address Hezbollah’s accusation, based on evidence, that Israel is behind Rafik Hariri’s assassination.
In the past weeks, we made a lot of efforts. We formed a team to review all the details. I will present evidence during the August 9 press conference proving that Israel was plotting to accuse Hezbollah of killing Rafik Hariri.
I have information. We accuse Israel of killing Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.
I will present during the press conference information that will help lead to conclusions on the Rafik Hariri investigation.
I will reveal a very important secret about the work of the Resistance to prove my arguments on August 9.
After August 9, the Lebanese government should appoint a responsible [committee on the issue] if it finds what I say to be noteworthy. We are ready to collaborate with the government.
We will manage to uncover the real criminals behind the Rafik Hariri murder.
Comments about the 2006 war
One of the Lebanese leaders, I will not mention his name, told me that there is an international decision to crush Hezbollah.
One of the Arab leaders, whose name I will not mention either, told me that former US Ambassador the UN John Bolton told him and a delegation arriving at the UN to stop the [2006] July War that the war would only end when Hezbollah surrenders.
This comes as part of Israel’s miscalculations.
In July 2006, almost the entire world supported Israel.
They gambled that every Lebanese will give up on the Resistance. But others supported the Resistance.
One day [during the 2006 July War], Israel’s representative at the UN approached someone from the Arab delegation, saying, ‘We will take the decision to stop the war.’
The Arab leader told me that Bolton also told him that they want to stop the war.
The Arab leader asked Bolton, ‘Then why are you stopping now? Hezbollah has not surrendered.’
Bolton answered, ‘Because Israel is no longer capable of pursuing the war.’
I want to conclude by saying that the Resistance, since the 2006 July War, is seeking for equations to protect Lebanon.
The importance of these equations is that they are based on facts.
Regarding air defense, we [as Hezbollah] will keep Israel wondering. Let them wonder if we have air defense systems or not. We will not reveal it.
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