Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Illustration photo by Guilhem Dorandeu/L'Orient-Le Jour.
As the "first phase" of the response to Israel's assassination of high-ranking Hezbollah official Fouad Shukur on July 30 in Beirut's southern suburbs, Hezbollah launched on Sunday morning, Aug. 25 over 320 rockets toward 11 Israeli military bases. The party also announced that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, would give a televised speech at 6 p.m.
In what context is this speech being given?
This response comes amid ongoing negotiations for a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict, which have been taking place in Cairo, Egypt, for over a week. The Israeli army claimed on Sunday morning to have carried out preventive strikes in Lebanon to prevent a "large-scale attack" and destroyed "thousands of rocket launch platforms" belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
On July 31, a few hours after the strike against Shukur, which resulted in several collateral civilian casualties, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, was also assassinated in an attack attributed to Israel, in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of the new Iranian president, Massoud Pezeshkian. Since then, tensions in the region have escalated.
Both Iran and Hezbollah had repeatedly stated that the response to these assassinations would be severe, even taking more risks than in their previous confrontation to "win" the sequence, as noted by our deputy editor-in-chief, Anthony Samrani. In this context, diplomacy had been highly active to try to avoid a major regional conflict. While Iran and Hezbollah had wanted to give the Gaza negotiations a chance to succeed, as they bogged down, it seems that the end has come, at least for Hezbollah in Lebanon, in what appears to be a role-sharing with its Iranian patron, as explained by our political analyst Salah Hijazi.
After ten months of conflict and this "red line" crossed by Israel at the end of July, the rules of the game could change. This is where Hassan Nasrallah's speech will be scrutinized.
When will the speech be given?
For those who want to follow the speech live in French, it will start at 6 p.m. Beirut time on Sunday, Aug. 25.
How to follow the speech live?
You can follow it live and in English via this link.
We will also share key points from the speech simultaneously on our WhatsApp group. You can join it here.
Precautions against Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier
As part of its psychological warfare against Lebanon, Israel regularly sends its military aircraft to break the sound barrier over Lebanese regions. Before Nasrallah's last speech on Aug. 6, Israeli planes had managed to create panic among the Lebanese, sometimes causing injuries and material damage, with windows breaking due to the sonic boom.
Given the risk that Israeli aircraft might repeat this experience before, during, or even after Nasrallah's speech on Sunday, here are some recommendations to prepare:
- What happens when an airplane breaks the sound barrier?
- How to minimize potential damage when Israeli planes break the sound barrier again
Finally, some reading recommendations ahead of the speech:
- Hezbollah begins its response: what we know and possible consequences
- Has the U.S. really tried its best for a Gaza cease-fire deal?
Rubio condemns Iran's 'outrageous' attacks on Kuwait
