Hezbollah deputy chief gives speech
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem has started his address.
Main talking points from Hezbollah deputy chief’s speech:
- We lost a dear brother and leader who loved the fighters for the faith.
- Israeli forces are committing massacres against civilians with US support.
- Hezbollah has hit Israeli targets 150km within Israeli territory.
- Hezbollah’s operations have continued at the same pace and more since Nasrallah’s killing.
- Hezbollah is prepared for Israel’s ground incursion and a long war.
- The group is following up on the alternative plans that Nasrallah put forward.
- The group will choose a new chief “sooner rather than later”.
- Hezbollah will continue with its main goals of supporting Gaza and protecting Lebanon.
- The group “will win, just as we won in our confrontation with Israel in 2006”.
Hezbollah says structure intact despite serious blows
This is the first time we are seeing a high-ranking Hezbollah official since Nasrallah’s assassination.
The message from the armed group is “we have not been defeated” while acknowledging that the group has suffered serious blows. There were setbacks for the group but the structure is still intact and this is something that Naim Qassem made clear.
He said they have still not decided on Nasrallah’s replacement and that there is a process. He did not mention the funeral, a question that a lot of people here have been asking. Will there be a funeral for Nasrallah – a father figure, especially for his supporters?
Qassem had words of assurance for Hezbollah supporters who are asking a lot of questions. We’ve been in the streets of this city and in the southern suburbs of Beirut and people are concerned. They feel that Hezbollah was protecting them.
He was trying to reassure his people that Hezbollah still has the military capabilities to fight, telling Israel it’s not ready to surrender.
Speech from senior Hezbollah official was ‘absolutely necessary’
Ali Rizk, security and political analyst, told Al Jazeera from Beirut that the video address of Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem was needed “for the sake of friend and foe alike”.
“Hezbollah supporters were very demoralised because of Nasrallah’s assassination and we had a few days when you had no official Hezbollah official come out,” he said. “So it was absolutely necessary to have this statement to show that the movement is still there, it is still somewhat intact and hasn’t been broken by the Israelis.”
Rizk added it was “also necessary to come out as soon as possible and deliver the message to the enemy”. “In that speech, there was a lot of emphasis given on Hezbollah still possessing significant military capabilities. This comes at a time when Israelis think that momentum is on their side. They have been escalating,” he said.
Rizk added that what Hezbollah has to do is to try and reach that middle ground between delivering “a painful response to Israel without actually leading to that catastrophic retaliation whereby the Israelis could come and use that as a pretext to launch a full-scale bombardment”.
“The Israelis appear to be yearning to do that,” he concluded.
