Naim Qassem to pager attack victims: You are the true resistance, Israel will fall

In a televised address of a few minutes on the anniversary of the beeper attack, Hezbollah's secretary general, Naim Qassem, praised the "wounded beeper victims," calling them "the greatest resistance," and asserted that Israel had failed in its attempt to "destroy [their] ability" and to "take them out of the battle."

"Three essential things are demonstrated in you," Qassem said, addressing the wounded throughout his speech, who "have faced a trial and a test," which they have "passed": "Healing," "recovery," and "continuity."

Focusing on the latter, he explained: "What did the Israeli enemy want? To destroy your ability, take you out of the battle. But today, you have entered it with greater strength, with more momentum."

He went on to say: "Some of you want to continue university studies, others want to open a workshop, some want to work in the social field, one wants to improve his culture, another to work in media."

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"You are on the path of the noblest and greatest martyrs You are the greatest resistance," said the Hezbollah leader. "And know that Israel will fall, for it is occupation, injustice, criminality and aggression, and because the resistance fighters will fight it until liberation," Qassem concluded.

On Sept. 17, 2024, in the midst of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel simultaneously detonated hundreds of Hezbollah's beepers in an operation that killed twelve people and wounded nearly 3,000 Hezbollah members and their relatives.

For his part, Jaafarite Mufti Ahmad Qabalan stressed, in a statement published Wednesday, that "without the legendary resistance, Lebanon would not exist today." "The anniversary of the shocking beeper massacre confronts us with the crime of national abandonment by those who regained the state and the country [a reference to Hezbollah] without making any profit for half a century," the mufti wrote.

According to him, "this position is not provocation or bravado, but an affirmation of national unity, civil partnership and sovereign interest, and an unequivocal reminder to the state that, without the legendary resistance, Lebanon would not exist today."

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah, speaking in Parliament, accused the government of taking “no concrete steps” in the face of Israeli attacks and of “ignoring” the issue of reconstruction after the latest devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Also paying tribute to the killed and wounded of the beeper attack, Fadlallah called the Israeli operation a "crime against humanity." "The wounded beeper victims, as well as the families of resisting martyrs, civilians and the injured, have demonstrated resistance and endurance, a willingness to sacrifice, and commitment to the resistance," he said.