Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah: ‘On the Lebanese Front, All Options are on the Table’

November 3, 2023

Leader of the Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. (Photo: Press TV, video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

In a much-anticipated speech on Friday, Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, confirmed that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation “has expanded to include more than one front and battleground.”

During the ceremony in honor of the fighters killed in the recent escalation with Israel, Nasrallah said that the Palestinian operation on October 7 further exposed the weakness and vulnerability of Israel, which is “weaker than a spider’s web.”

Nasrallah also highlighted the hardships Palestinians had to endure before October 7, saying that “the circumstances in the last (few) years in Palestine were very tough, especially with Benjamin Netanyahu’s fascist, idiotic, stupid, and monstrous (government).”

He also reiterated that “the unfolding events in Al-Aqsa Flood are clear proof that Iran does not have any mandate at all over the Resistance factions,” and that “the real decision-makers are the leaders of the (Palestinian) Resistance and its freedom fighters.”

The Context

“You and the entire world are well acquainted with the suffering of the Palestinian people for more than 75 years,” Nasrallah said, adding that “the extremist government escalated arbitrary measures against prisoners,” further deteriorating the humanitarian situation.

“More than two million people are living in Gaza experiencing difficult conditions,” he said, noting how the world did not act to put an end to this suffering.

Nasrallah also pointed to the expansionist policies carried out by the Israeli government throughout the occupied West Bank.

The US Role

Nasrallah said that the Biden administration “hurried (to send) its President, secretaries, and generals,” to make sure that the Israeli occupation survived the aftermath of the operation, allowing it to “stand back up” after suffering a huge blow on October 7.

However, he noticed how Israel “has still not been able to regain the initiative.” Moreover, the Hezbollah leader questioned Israel’s ability to sustain its existence, considering that it asked $10 billion in aid from the US on the first day of confrontations.

Israel is not able to “stand on its feet”, according to Nasrallah, considering the high number of US military officials that headed to Tel Aviv to assist Israel and the large number of weapons that were sent.

“One of the biggest mistakes that the Israelis made and they continue is setting far-reaching objectives that they cannot achieve or reach,” Nasrallah said, comparing the Israeli goal of eliminating Hamas to their goal of “crushing the Resistance in Lebanon” in 2006 and retrieving the two abducted Israeli prisoners, “without engaging in negotiations or [prisoners] exchange.”

“America is entirely responsible for the ongoing war on Gaza and its people, and Israel is simply a tool of execution,” Nasrallah said, adding that the US “impedes a ceasefire and the end of the aggression.”

The Lebanese Front

Nasrallah remembered that, since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 8, the Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.

“What’s happening on the border might seem modest but is very important,” Nasrallah said.

According to Hezbollah sources, the movement has killed, as of November 1, at least 120 soldiers, and wounded many more, while targeting numerous military bases, intelligence installations, and other Israeli positions across the Lebanon-Israel border.

Nasrallah said that all options on the Lebanese front are on the table, and that the expansion of the conflict depends on two conditions: One, Israeli actions in Gaza, and two, Israel’s behavior in Lebanon, particularly the bombing against civilians.

Hezbollah is not intimidated by the deployment of US warships in the region, according to Nasrallah, who told the US: “You can stop the aggression on Gaza because it is your aggression, and whoever wants to prevent a regional war, must hasten to stop this aggression.”

Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership. 

It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel. 

Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.

Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.

(PC, Al-Mayadeen)