Hezbollah to Retaliate against Any Israeli Attack on Lebanon: Nasrallah

“We will retaliate against any attack on Lebanon. We will not accept any enemy aggression against our country,” Seyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Saturday to mark “Martyrs’ Day”, Daily Star reported.

“Our martyrs’ blood protected our land, so did the ‘Golden Formula’ and Hezbollah’s missile capabilities. Our strength point is missile power because the Lebanese army is forbidden from acquiring state-of-the-art missiles and military hardware,” he added.

The Hezbollah chief then censured attempts by certain regional states to normalize diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime.

“Dear Palestinians, don’t grieve at normalization bids! What had been going on behind the scenes for long is now taking place blatantly and unashamedly. The current normalization attempts will put an end to Arab hypocrisy, and will tear off the masks of deceivers and hypocrites,” Nasrallah said.

He further said that demonstrations in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, which are dubbed “The Great March of Return” and demand the right to return for the Palestinians driven out of their homeland, filled our hearts with hope that Palestinians would not give in to pressure at all.

“Had the Syrian people and government not withstood pressure by Tel Aviv, we would have been witness to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu marching in Damascus,” Nasrallah said.

The Hezbollah secretary general also lauded Iran’s stance vis-à-vis the Palestinian issue, stating that sanctions against the Islamic Republic will have no effect on the movement.

He also criticized the international community for its outcry over the murder of prominent Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after visiting the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul on October 2, while turning a blind eye to Saudi crimes and atrocities in neighboring Yemen.

The Hezbollah chief also described a demand by US President Donald Trump’s administration for a ceasefire in Yemen as a hoax, stating that doubts surrounded the timing of such a call.

He called upon the Yemeni people to remain patient and persevere as they are very close to victory.

Nasrallah strongly condemned the recent life sentence handed down to prominent Bahraini Shia cleric and opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman, saying the Appeals Court’s decision to overturn his acquittal proved the ruling Al Khalifa regime was oppressive.

Turning to the formation of a new national unity government in Lebanon, he said Hezbollah was right to demand 10 ministerial shares, and that its share of six ministers in the next Lebanese administration did not reflect its parliamentary, political and popular size.

Nasrallah then underlined that the six “independent” Sunni lawmakers, who were insisting on being represented in the next government, had prevented the transformation of the political stalemate in Lebanon into a sectarian crisis.

“We told Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri that our demand for their representation is basic, and helps the formation of the new government,” Nasrallah concluded.