On July 10, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech during a memorial service held for former Hezbollah commander, Mohammad Nimah Nasser, who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his car in southern Lebanon on July 3.
During his speech, Nasrallah asserted that Hezbollah’s battle with the Israeli occupation on the northern front is part of the Al-Aqsa Flood, and that Hezbollah has adopted the same name of the battle chosen by their brothers in the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, to confirm the unity of the battle. Nasrallah labelled Hezbollah’s role in the Flood as the “Lebanese Support Front”. Hezbollah has assigned the title of “martyrs on the path of liberating Al-Quds” to the people in the Lebanese Support Front.
The Hezbollah leader said that one of the most important objectives for the Lebanese Support Front, as well as all other support fronts, is the attrition of the Israeli occupation army and its capabilities physically, economically, morally, psychologically and in terms of personnel. He explained that through this attrition, the fronts have been able to prevent the Israeli forces from being fully focused on fighting in Gaza.
Nasrallah has warned Israel that the Lebanese Support Front can further pressure the Israeli occupation, its army, and its society, until they understand that a ceasefire on the northern front is connected to a ceasefire in Gaza. Nasrallah added that this has become an evident reality for the United States, France, Germany and other international actors, as well as among Israeli officials.
The Lebanese Support Front has created conditions for around 100,000 Israeli personnel to be deployed in an area extending from the Mediterranean sea to Jabal al-Sheikh, fearing not only the possibility that Hezbollah enters Galilee, but also that small groups may infiltrate into the occupied Palestinian territories from time to time.
The deployment of Israeli forces over a broad geographical area is in response to Hezbollah’s ability to destroy a significant number of Israeli electronic surveillance systems and radars. This made the presence of officers and soldiers on the ground the only means to cover these areas, increasing the attrition of the Israeli occupation army, and causing a shortage in personnel that entails recalling more reservists, and negatively affecting Israeli society socially and economically.
Nasrallah considered that “failure” was as a title for the Israeli battle against all fronts supporting Gaza, as none of the three goals set by Israel for the battle, including returning the Israeli captives, the extermination of Hamas, and making Gaza an area that does not threaten Israel, have been achieved. In addition, he mentioned that the whole world has admitted that Israel will not be able to end the aggression with its military power, and that the only solution for it is negotiations.
The Axis of Resistance will agree to whatever Hamas decides
The Hezbollah leader highlighted that Hamas is leading the negotiations on behalf of the Palestinian factions and the Axis of Resistance as a whole. The Axis includes Iran, Syria, and other non-state actors, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, and Yemen’s Ansar Allah.
“What ever Hamas consents to we all consent to,” Nasrallah said, assuring that the battle is primarily the battle of the people of Gaza, the resistance groups in Gaza and those in the West Bank, who have been carrying the greatest burden, and that the Lebanese Support Front will be by the side of the Palestinians till the end.
Furthermore, Nasrallah praised the bravery, steadfastness, resilience, and determination of the Palestinian people and resistance fighters in Gaza despite all the horrifying actions carried out by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza strip.
In response to Israeli threats to invade the south of Litani in southern Lebanon, Nasrallah called on the Israeli occupation to learn from what has been happening in Rafah as the occupation army has still failed to achieve any victory against the Palestinian resistance fighters there, despite fighting within a narrow area.
