Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, during a speech delivered on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (Credit: Screenshot from TV channel Al-Manar)
Striving to "Lebanonize" his decision to join the regional war, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem stated Wednesday that Hezbollah has been fighting in Lebanon since Monday against "the ongoing" Israeli aggression since late 2024.
In his first speech since the beginning of hostilities, he also justified his party's "legitimate right" to keep their weapons. Notably, he made no mention of the Islamic Republic of Iran, its patron, which was attacked at dawn Saturday by a U.S.-Israeli military campaign, contenting himself with expressing regret over the assassination of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
On the night from Sunday to Monday, Hezbollah fired six rockets toward Israel to "avenge" the death of Khamenei, who was killed on Saturday. This decision took the Lebanese state, the majority of the Lebanese people, and even part of its own base by surprise. The Israeli response proved deadly.
'Response to Israeli-American aggression against Lebanon'
In a clear effort to respond to critics who accuse him of carrying out an Iranian directive, the Hezbollah leader argued that "the firing of a volley of rockets constitutes a response to the Israeli-American aggression against our country," he said, before noting that it is also a response to Khamenei's assassination.
"To those who ask why at this precise moment, I ask them: do you want us to wait indefinitely?" he added. Israel has continued its strikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa since the cease-fire took effect at the end of November 2024, making a halt to attacks conditional on Hezbollah's disarmament.
"We are therefore facing a response to ongoing aggression," Qassem said.
At a time when Hezbollah's entry into the war and the Israeli response had already killed at least 72 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 80,000 others, Qassem claimed that Israel's attack was "prepared."
"This is not a response to the rockets; this aggression is now known by the entire world as an integral part of Israel's [expansionist] project for Lebanon," he stated.
Carrying weapons is a 'legitimate right'
The number one of Hezbollah then took aim at the government, which on Monday banned Hezbollah's military activities and urged the army to implement the weapons monopoly plan as quickly as possible and by "all possible means."
"Instead of opposing the aggression, the government has turned against the Resistance and echoed Israeli demands, but these are the people of your country, and you are a Lebanese government!" Qassem accused.
"The decisions of Aug. 5 and 7 [relating to the monopoly of weapons] taken by the Lebanese government were a grave sin. They weakened the position of the Lebanese state and legitimized Israel's freedom of aggression," he asserted.
He added: "The government must work to restore Lebanon's sovereignty, stand as a protector of its people and a defender of the right of resistance until the end of aggression and the [Israeli] withdrawal from our land and homeland, and be true to its responsibility to all its citizens."
Until then, he said, "Resistance is a right that we will not negotiate with anyone."
At a time when Hezbollah is more isolated than ever on the Lebanese political scene, he said that Israeli attacks are "an aggression against all of Lebanon, and everyone in Lebanon bears the responsibility to confront the aggression."
He also claimed that the popular base remained "faithful" to his party despite Israeli attacks.
Addressing the Lebanese, he then declared: "Let us unite around the priority of confronting this enemy; afterwards, we will discuss our differences and come to an agreement about them," calling on the "adversaries of the resistance" to "open a blank page with it."
