Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers a speech broadcast on a giant screen on July 10, 2024, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Credit: Mohammad Azakir/Reuters)
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that his party will accept "what Hamas accepts" on a possible cease-fire in Gaza, assuring that the "support front" launched by his party from southern Lebanon in October 2023 would cease its operations against Israel if a truce were to be established in Gaza.
In a speech during a tribute to a commander of the party, Mohammad Naame Nasser, who was killed in an Israeli strike a week ago, Nasrallah argued that "the whole world is calling on Israel for a cease-fire. What Hamas accepts, we will accept." "If a cease-fire is established in Gaza, our front will stop fighting, we are committed to it because we are a support front. If there is no cease-fire, we will advise in due time," he said.
In response to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's assertion that Israel "will continue to fight and do whatever is necessary" against Hezbollah, "even if there is a cease-fire" in Gaza, Nasrallah said: "If an Israeli aggression targets Lebanon, we will not stand idly by, even if there is a cease-fire in Gaza."
"The Israeli army is now threatening to invade the region south of the Litani. If the Israelis win in Gaza, they will come to Lebanon. When your tanks arrive at our borders, you know what awaits them. The resistance in Lebanon is ready and is not afraid," he warned.
'Israel is at an impasse'
Referring to Hezbollah's participation in the Al-Aqsa Flood, the offensive by the Palestinian movement Hamas on Oct. 7 in Israeli territory, Nasrallah said he "wants to continue to be part of the battle."
"We see the successes and exploits that are being achieved day by day. And the enemy sees these successes well. From the beginning, we wanted this Lebanese support front to exhaust the enemy's forces, in human, material, economic and psychological terms. Through this pressure, we can make the enemy understand that the cease-fire on Israel's northern front depends on the cease-fire in Gaza. The Israelis are aware that a cease-fire must be achieved in Gaza because it is the only way to stop the fighting in the north," he said.
Regarding the hostilities in southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah leader revealed that Israel had initially asked that the party "withdraw three km from the border because [our] rockets were reaching three to five kilometers. Then, they learned that we had missiles with a range of eight to 10 km, so they asked that we move 10 km away. Israel is in a stalemate on the Lebanese front," Nasrallah added. "The Israelis first asked for the withdrawal of the Radwan Force, but what do they think? It also has the Nasr Unit, the Aziz Unit, the Abbas Unit," he continued.
According to the leader, "the Israelis are afraid, not only of the possibility [of the party] to enter Galilee but of the infiltration of small groups into occupied Palestine." "Israeli goals in Lebanon have declined in importance. In 2006, they wanted to destroy Hezbollah and failed to achieve their goals," he added.
Hassan Nasrallah also summarized the career of militiaman Nasser, also known as Hajj Abu Naame, who allegedly participated in the 2006 war, led the Nasr Battalion special forces from 2004 to 2008, and fought against the Islamic State movement Daesh in Syria. Abu Naame also allegedly fought in southern Lebanon since the start of hostilities in October and until his death. "The resistance launched the largest number of missiles with the death of Hajj Abu Naame and achieved new objectives. We are not afraid of war and the enemy knows it well," the leader of the party maintained.
No Hezbollah withdrawal
Commenting on the Israeli operations in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, Nasrallah considered that "the stubbornness of Benjamin Netanyahu on Rafah is the sign of a rout. If the Israelis stop the operation on Rafah, they will be in a situation of defeat."
"Everything that is happening in Gaza reflects a failure of the enemy. Israel wanted the return of the hostages or the annihilation of Hamas. It has not been able to do anything in 10 months," he said. "Israel will have to stop the war, otherwise it will drift. The enemy is going through the worst period of its existence, in terms of the army, the economy and in terms of loss of credibility," he added, considering that the Israeli leaders who are calling for the withdrawal of Hezbollah north of the Litani River in Lebanon "are madmen and idiots."
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
