Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered a televised speech on Monday, September 30, two days after late Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated by Israel in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
As he appeared to deliver the first speech by a Hezbollah official in the aftermath of the assassination, Sheikh Naim Qassem mourned Nasrallah saying: “We have lost a brother, father and a great leader. Sayyed Nasrallah was the leader of the convoy of free fighters. His absolute priority was Palestine and Al-Quds.”
Sheikh Qassem highlighted significant points and answered crucial questions raised following Nasrallah’s death, sending a defiant message to Israel, by confirming that “Hezbollah will go on with its goals and its battle.” He added that Hezbollah’s “system of command and control as well as the mujahideen (fighters) will continue to follow up and implement the alternative plans accurately, just like the late Secretary-General used to do. All are ready on the battlefield”.
Furthermore, the Hezbollah leader confirmed that Israel was unable to harm the group’s military capabilities, by assassinating Nasrallah and other leaders, noting that all options are on table, and warning that Hezbollah fighters are fully prepared for any possible Israeli ground incursion. Defying Israel, Sheikh Qassem stated: “the Israeli enemy is delusional when it thinks that the brutal massacres and the international backing will help achieve its goals.”
Sheikh Qassem asserted the steadiness of Hezbollah despite unprecedented Israeli cyber terrorist attacks and assassination of top commanders and leaders that took place in the last few weeks. “We have sacrificed a lot since the pager operations, the martyrdom of the commanders and the martyrdom of the leader (Sayyed Nasrallah). If this happens anywhere else with any organization across the world, it will collapse, but we did not. We are going on despite the pains and the sacrifices. We are going on because we have the hope and we trust Allah almighty to be victorious. We are the people of jihad,” he said.
Moreover, Sheikh Qassem pledged that Hezbollah will continue fighting the Israeli enemy to support Gaza and Palestine, and to defend Lebanon and its people. With regard to the assignment of a new Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Qassem said that this will happen as soon as possible, stressing that after Sayyed Nasrallah was assassinated, “Hezbollah’s operations have continued at the same pace, and more.” He provided the targeting of the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which is located around 150 kilometers away from the Lebanese border on Saturday, as an example.
