The new Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said – in his first speech after assuming the position – that the party rose and stood firm after the strikes it received from the Israeli army, and stressed that the party will continue to support Gaza.
Regarding the program that he will work on, Qassem stressed that his work will be “a continuation of the work program of the late former Secretary-General of the party, Hassan Nasrallah, in all fields, political, jihadist, social, and cultural… and we will continue to implement the war plan that he developed with the leadership of the resistance.”
He added that the party will remain on the war path within the set political directions, but will deal with the current developments, stressing that the Israeli strike was painful, but the party “has recovered and its youth are achieving achievements and victories in the field.”
He also said, “The Lebanese resistance existed to liberate the land and confront the occupation and its expansionist intentions,” and pointed out that it was the resistance that drove Israel out of Lebanon, not international resolutions.
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah spoke about Israeli intentions towards Lebanon, and said that they were clear, and that Hezbollah counted 39,000 air and sea violations by Israel of Resolution 1701.
Regarding the issue of Gaza, Qassem considered that “supporting Gaza was necessary to confront Israel’s threat to the entire region from the Gaza gate,” and said, “Gaza has the right of us and everyone to support it.” He also said, “Our support for Gaza broke the surprise that Israel was preparing for, and by resisting we are disrupting Israel’s project, which does not need pretexts.”
The head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) described the martyr Yahya Al-Sanwar as “an icon of heroism for Palestine and the free people of the world who resisted until his last breath.”
We are not fighting on behalf of anyone
In response to the accusations directed at Hezbollah regarding its relationship with Iran, Qassem explained that the party “does not fight on behalf of anyone nor for anyone’s project,” and stressed, “Our project is to protect and demolish our land and support our brothers in Palestine.”
He stressed, “Iran supports us and does not want anything from us. It does not need us,” and said that it has been paying a heavy price for years because of its position on the Palestinian issue.
While he thanked the support fronts, especially in Yemen and Iraq, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah announced that he welcomed any Arab and Islamic country that wanted to support his party in resisting Israel.
In his speech, the senior Hezbollah official spoke about many points and details, and explained that the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is a “global American-European war with the aim of eliminating resistance in the region,” but the legendary steadfastness of the resistance in Gaza and Lebanon will create a future for generations, according to him.
Qassem (71 years old) was elected Secretary-General of Hezbollah, succeeding Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel in a raid on the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on September 27 of last year.