‘Wait is part of the punishment’: Hezbollah leader’s speech that rattled Israeli regime

By Press TV Website Staff

In his second speech following the assassination of Hezbollah commander Faud Shukr in Beirut and Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned the Israeli regime that the response is imminent.

“Yavaash, Yavaash (slowly, slowly),” said the Lebanese resistance leader in a speech on Tuesday as tens of thousands of people watched on a giant screen in the capital Beirut.

“Israel’s week-long wait is part of the punishment and retaliation,” Nasrallah asserted. “The state of waiting is part of the battle and leaves a great shadow on the occupation.”

Shukr was assassinated in an airstrike that targeted a densely-populated residential area in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday, which also killed two children and an Iranian military adviser.

Haniyeh’s assassination came barely hours later, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning when his residence in north Tehran was targeted with a short-range projectile.

The leader of the political office of Hamas was in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian.

After the series of cowardly assassinations, both Iranian officials as well as Hezbollah vowed retaliation.

Here are snippets of Nasrallah’s thunderous speech delivered on Tuesday:

• We acknowledge the extent of our loss, and our loss of Sayyed Mohsen (Fuad Shukr) is very great, but this does not shake us at all. The proof is the continuation of resistance operations.

Hezbollah leader’s heartfelt tribute to the martyred resistance commander shows the position he had in the resistance movement. As Nasrallah said, Shukr was among the “founding fathers” of the Lebanese resistance movement and took part in all major battles, including the July War. A strategic mind, he “led and directed” resistance operations against the Israeli enemy until the last moment of his life.

• The enemy does not dare to tell the truth about what happened in Majdal Shams. 

Hezbollah leader referred to the incident attack in the occupied Golan Heights that resulted in the killing of 12 children. Israeli regime falsely accused Hezbollah of carrying out the attack, without providing any evidence. The incident, according to experts, was caused by the Israeli air defense systems. The regime used the incident as an excuse to assassinate the Hezbollah commander.

• We have sons and grandsons from the first generation of leaders present on the resistance fronts, fighting and advancing to the battlefield.

 Hezbollah leader suggested that the assassination of Shukr would not derail the momentum or affect the morale of the resistance fighters against the Israeli apartheid regime. The movement has been enriched by the blood of two generations – fathers and sons keeping the banner of resistance high.

• It is clear that Netanyahu does not want to end the war and seeks a Western and American commitment in the next phase, as he has a project in Gaza.

Nasrallah referred to recent events, including the assassinations of resistance leaders to derail negotiations, the decision taken by the Knesset to not recognize the Palestinian state, expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank among other measures that prove that Benjamin Netanyahu regime is not interested in ending its genocidal war on Gaza and has a project to uproot Palestinians and expel them to Egypt or Jordan. Nasrallah also warned that if Netanyahu is allowed to prevail over the resistance, it will lead to the establishment of a “criminal Zionist state.”

• Americans are deceiving the world by saying they are not satisfied with Netanyahu’s conduct during the war and are working to pressure him (to end it). This is all a lie because they continue to supply him with tons of weapons.

Nasrallah exposed the hypocrisy of the US government that continues to aid and abet the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by supplying weapons to the Israeli regime while talking about negotiations and ending the bloodshed in the besieged Palestinian territory. In reality, the main mastermind of the Israeli genocide in Gaza is Washington and Israeli lobby groups in the US, as experts have repeatedly said.

• Amid the talk of response from Iran, Hezbollah, Yemen, the United States, its Department of Defense, and its fleets are advancing to defend Israel in a public message.

Hezbollah's leader was referring to news reports about a fleet of US warships heading to the Persian Gulf region in order to shield the Israeli regime from imminent retaliation. Although the US has expressed disinclination to the expansion of the scope of war beyond Gaza as that endangers its own interests in the region, continued military support to the regime makes the hypocrisy clear.

• Israel is no longer as strong as it was, and its prestige and defense capabilities are not what they used to be. Israel is seeking help from the Americans, Westerners, Europeans, and Arab regimes, which is evidence of its diminished prestige.

Nasrallah reminded the world that the Israeli regime, which claimed military and intelligence superiority over the Palestinian resistance and regional states, had its bubble bursted in the wake of the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation and also following Iran’s True Promise Operation. The regime has sustained due to military support provided to it by Western powers, especially the United States.

• Israeli radars and American satellites are on high alert out of fear of retaliation, and today our drones have reached the east of Acre.

Hezbollah leader’s reference was to a high alert declared in the occupied territories amid panic and fear that have gripped settlers and regime officials following the assassination of Haniyeh and Shukr. In anticipation of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah, the Israeli regime has been virtually paralyzed, settlers have been fleeing and airports have become chaotic.

• The assassination of Haniyeh and Shukr is an Israeli achievement, but it changes nothing in the course of the battle. Israel is in a difficult position, and the resistance has escalated its operations.

Nasrallah again reiterated that the assassination of leaders does not change the equation or dampen the morale of resistance fighters who fight for a noble cause. That’s precisely why the assassinations of Haniyeh and Shukr have not stopped the resistance operations but have in fact strengthened their resolve and determination to take their mission to the logical end – annihilation of the regime.

• Iran is obligated to respond after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah is also obligated to respond after the assassination of Fuad Shukr.

Hezbollah leader, echoing what Iranian officials have repeatedly said in recent days, asserted that both the Islamic Republic and the Hezbollah resistance are obligated to avenge the blood of Haniyeh and Shukr, and the terrorist act will not go unanswered. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, IRGC commander General Hossein Salami and others have also vowed to punish the regime for its cowardly act of terror. Nasrallah didn’t touch on the scenarios that exist or the timing and nature of the retaliation but said the Israeli regime must wait for it.

• The Israeli wait for the response of Iran and the resistance front is part of the response and punishment because the battle is psychological, moral and military.

Pointing to the delay in the retaliatory operation, Nasrallah said the wait itself is part of the response and it keeps the regime and settlers on their toes all the time as is evident. Many settlers have already escaped and those who remain have been living on tenterhooks. According to reports, Netanyahu and his ministers have also slipped into bunkers over the fear of Iranian missiles and drones.

• Every honorable person must confront, and the goal of this battle is to prevent ‘Israel’ from winning and to eliminate the Palestinian cause. This confrontation has a significant historic prospect for victory.

Nasrallah invited all free people of the world to resist the occupying regime in their own way, to prevent the merchants of death in Tel Aviv from eliminating the Palestinian cause. He pointed to the historical significance of this battle against the Zionist entity.

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