Nasrallah: Enemies seeking to disconnect Lebanese front from Gaza

The Hezbollah secretary-general says enemies are trying to create the absurd notion that the Lebanese resistance group’s strikes against Israeli military positions in the northern side of the 1948 occupied territories are unrelated to the bloody onslaught on Gaza.

Delivering a televised speech at a Wednesday funeral ceremony held in commemoration of several Hezbollah fighters fallen in recent Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Hezbollah’s retaliatory strikes have played a pivotal role in the course of the struggle against Israel.

He said the strikes have inflicted material, moral and psychological losses on the occupying regime.

“One of the strongest indications of the effectiveness of the Lebanese front is the outcry, threats and intimidation we hear from Israeli authorities as well as illegal settlers,” Nasrallah said.

“If this front were not effective, why are certain international parties seeking to detach it from the Gaza conflict?” 

Nasrallah then paid homage to high-ranking Hezbollah field commander Sami Abdallah, better known by the nom the guerre Abu Taleb, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes against a house in Lebanon’s southern town of Jwaya last week.

The Hezbollah chief went on to highlight the spiritual gift of martyrdom, stating that Abu Taleb played an important role in the Lebanese resistance group.

He said Hezbollah is now more determined to confront the Zionist enemy, terming his group’s response to the latest Israeli strikes as “fairly strong and befitting.”

Hezbollah strikes Israeli military factory, outposts in response to attack on Lebanon

Hezbollah fighters carry out an airstrike against Israeli military outposts in response to a deadly attack on a town in southern Lebanon.

Nasrallah underscored that Hezbollah’s publication of a video footage gathered from its surveillance aircraft of strategic locations in the northern part of the occupied territories, including sea and air ports in the city of Haifa, was part of the group’s psychological warfare against the Tel Aviv regime.

“We have long hours of footage of Haifa, what's around it, what's before it, what's beyond it and what's even further,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief added that Israel doesn’t disclose the real number of its fatalities in Gaza, as it avoids announcing its losses resulting from Hezbollah attacks in an attempt to deflect criticism away from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Nasrallah also roundly dismissed the Israeli military’s assertion that plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated” amid escalating cross-border clashes with Hezbollah, emphasizing that incursion into the Galilee region remains an option on the table should Israel invades southern Lebanon.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hezbollah chief hailed the maritime operations of Yemeni naval units in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, stating that the strikes continue unabated regardless of the US intelligence agencies’ attempts to stop them.

“The United States and Britain have failed to stop Yemeni attacks. The Zionist enemy, unable to engage in other fronts, relies on US and UK support to confront Yemeni forces.

“Israeli officials are trying to paint a distorted picture of unfolding developments in Gaza in order to mislead the public opinion and falsely claim to have made achievements,” Nasrallah said.

He stated that Hezbollah is in possession of a large cache of advanced weapons, and that the resistance movement is manufacturing its own combat drones as well as some types of rockets.

Hezbollah publishes drone surveillance footage of key Israeli sites in Haifa

The nearly 10-minute video was gathered from a surveillance aircraft of key locations in the northern city of Haifa.

“The resistance's manpower is unprecedented. We have recruited over 100,000 fighters,” the Hezbollah leader said, warning that “no place” in the Israeli-occupied territories would be spared from the group’s weapons in case of a full-blown war.

“The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst... and that no place... will be spared our rockets,” Nasrallah said.

Israel must “wait for us on land, by sea and by air,” he added, warning that Hezbollah will fight “without restrictions.”

“The enemy knows that what also awaits it in the Mediterranean Sea is very huge, seeing as all its coasts and ships will be targeted,” he went on to say.

“Threatening us with war on Lebanon does not scare us, we have prepared ourselves for the most difficult of days and the enemy knows well what awaits it,” Nasrallah said.

The Hezbollah chief also warned the island of Cyprus if it opened its airports and bases to Israel in the event of a new war on Lebanon.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” Nasrallah stated.

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