Sayyed Nasrallah’s Full Speech Tackling the Islamic Resistance’s Arbaeen Day Operation
By Al-Ahed News, Hezbollah Media Relations
The full speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Sunday, August 25, 2024, addressing the latest developments, with a particular focus on the Islamic Resistance’s Arbaeen Day Operation.
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon our Master and Prophet, the Seal of Prophets, Abi al-Qassem Muhammad Bin Abdullah, and his good and pure household and his good and chosen companions and all the prophets and messengers.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you all.
Before talking about the recent events and developments, I must note that today is the Arbaeen commemoration of Imam Hussein [AS] on the 20th of Safar. Abu Abdullah Hussein, the master of martyrs and the leader of the free and the resistance fighters throughout history, will remain the symbol of sacrifice, redemption, altruism, rejecting injustice, humiliation, oppression, and submission, and a historical title for the bloody, sacrificial, and jihadi revolution until the Day of Judgment.
Therefore, I begin my speech by greeting the person we are commemorating. Peace be upon you, O my master and my chief, O Abu Abdullah, and upon the souls that gathered in your courtyard. Peace of Allah be upon you from me forever as long as I am existent and as long as there are day and night.
May Allah not cause this [visit] to be the last of my visit to you [all]. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon Al-Hussein [Imam Hussein (AS)], upon Ali ibn Al-Hussein, upon the sons of Al-Hussein, and upon the companions of Al-Hussein.
We must pay attention to the great global event taking place in the city of Karbala, near the shrine of Abu Abdullah Al-Hussein [AS]. Millions of visitors from all over the world, from inside Iraq and from outside Iraq are converging despite this very hot weather. Some of them are from the Iranian-Iraqi border or the rest of the Iraqi borders with other countries, and many of them came to Karbala on foot from inside Iraqi territory.
This year, based on the number on the website of the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussein, there are 21 million and 480 thousand visitors so far. Approximately, because there is an additional 480 thousand [visitors]. This event is unparalleled in the world. Every year, the numbers just get higher.
Of course, we must thank the Iraqi government and the generous and hospitable Iraqi people for the security and safety they are providing for the well-being of millions of visitors. Their hospitality and generosity have no limit.
We must also pay attention to the presence of Palestine and Al-Quds in the Arbaeen of [Imam] Hussein in recent years and the interaction between Karbala and Imam Hussein and this Ummah’s [nation] central cause, which is Palestine. This is first.
Second, it is also our moral duty to extend our condolences to the dear Lebanese people, the Lebanese state with all its pillars, and all the resistance factions in Lebanon on the passing of His Excellency Former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss [may God have mercy on him].
He was a great title and symbol of patriotism, integrity, and resistance. We all know that His Excellency al-Hoss was the premiere of Lebanon in 2000, the year of liberation. He was a supporter of the resistance; he supported it until the last moments of his blessed life. I express to his honorable family my deepest condolences, sympathy, and pain for the loss of this great national, nationalist, resistance, generous, and honorable figure, and Premier al-Hoss deserves all praise and commendation.
Before I delve into today’s developments, I salute our Lebanese people in general, who are proud and steadfast, and especially our people in the south, the Beqaa, and Dahiyeh [the southern suburbs of Beirut], who have been enduring the greatest burden of this confrontation for 11 months on the front supporting Gaza, Palestine and Al-Quds [“Jerusalem”].
Today, we must single out our people in the south, who have witnessed since the early hours of the morning powerful confrontations, raids, shelling, challenges, and dangers. I ask God Almighty to accept this jihad from them, and I tell them, all the supporters of the resistance, and the resistance environment: This jihad and patience has its honorable result in this world and its great reward and recompense in the hereafter, God willing.
I turn to my brothers, the brave, heroic, and steadfast resistance fighters, who are firmly rooted in the land like mountains. I thank them for their steadfastness, courage, loyalty, and sacrifices while they are on the front lines facing dangers every minute and hour. I salute all the brave and heroic resistance fighters in Gaza and the West Bank, in Yemen and Iraq, and all those who support these honorable resistance fighters who have not left the field for 11 months.
We will tackle the latest developments today. Of course, there is not enough time because we did not talk on martyr Sayyed Fouad’s one-week martyrdom commemoration. We will talk about it in the context of the region and the negotiations. This needs time, but I will allocate the available time to the developments of today’s confrontation.
As you know and as everyone knows the “Israeli” enemy attacked Dahiyeh [Beirut’s southern suburbs] a few weeks ago, crossing all red lines. In other words, the one who forced things to escalate in Lebanon and on the front is the enemy. We are speaking in this manner for Lebanese to understand.
[“Israel”] attacked Dahiyeh and bombed the well-known building, leading to the martyrdom of civilian women and children and the assassination of senior jihadi leader Sayyed Fouad Shokor, aka Sayyed Mohsen, may God be pleased with him and all the martyrs.
It was normal for the resistance to announce its determination and commitment to respond to the flagrant aggression to establish the equations for which much blood and sacrifices were shed over decades. This is something that we could never tolerate at all.
Of course, many may wonder – I will speak today with great transparency and clarity and answer many of the questions raised – why the response was delayed until today.
By the way, we will call today’s large-scale military operation the as Operation Arbaeen Day because it took place on a great anniversary.
Why was it delayed until today? Of course, the response was delayed until today due to many factors. Although after the funeral of Sayed Mohsen, we were ready, our young men, our weapons, our plan and everything; we had a specific detail on all the targets that we would choose.
1- One of the factors was the magnitude of “Israeli” and US security, intelligence, and technical alertness in the field, air, land, and sea. Hence, a hasty response could have meant failure.
2- The delay in itself, as I said during the one-week martyrdom anniversary of Sayyed Mohsen, is a punishment for the enemy. When the assassination happened, the stock market went down and has continued to go down ever since. This alert and this psychological, moral, economic and financial fatigue had to continue for some time and will continue because in a little while we will talk about Hezbollah’s response, as well as the Iranian and Yemeni responses.
3- The third factor is our need for some time to study and consult with each other on whether the whole axis [of resistance] responds on the same day and at the same time or respond individually. This also needed some time.
4- When we decided to act, they came up with the August 15 negotiations, and the Americans rushed to it. One of the reasons for the hypocritical American haste is fear of the axis of resistance’s response and the repercussions, including a regional war. They began talking about a cessation of aggression and a ceasefire, etc.
In fact, we took our time. Of course, we did not tell anyone that we would take our time. The truth of the matter is that we took our time to give these negotiations a chance, because our main goal from [launching] this entire front, the blood and the sacrifices, is to stop the aggression on Gaza. We gave [these negotiations] enough time. After all this time has passed, it turned out that Netanyahu was putting new conditions, and the US was supporting him. This was all a waste of time, and there was no longer any point in delaying any longer.
Hence, these are the reasons that led to the delay until today. On the one hand, as a result of the study and consultations, it was decided that we would respond individually, for considerations and reasons that I will not mention now but will appear with time. We will conduct our own operation, and each party in the axis will decide when and how to respond.
On the other hand, it’s clear that the negotiations will be lengthy, have no clear horizon, and were complicated. The Americans were not honest and serious about stopping the aggression.
You and I as well as the entire world know that America can force Netanyahu to stop the aggression, but they pamper him and are partners with him in this war and crime. This is with regards to the negotiations.
We also took on the challenge of working under the current state of alert. Despite the passage of weeks, the mobilization is still great and strong and may continue for weeks or months. It is not in our interest as a resistance to delay this response, for considerations related to the resistance and the situation in Lebanon – the internal situation, the situation of the people and the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, there is also the psychological warfare that many are waging and participating in. Every day, a politician, a media personality, a military man, or a worthless trivial person tells you that the war will be today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in an hour, in two hours, etc. We’ve been living in this state in Lebanon for the past 11 months, and these people have no shame.
Anyway, as a result of these considerations, we decided to launch our response today. This is the first section in answering the questions of the previous stage. I would like to divide the rest of my speech as follows. I want to talk at the beginning about us as a resistance, our intentions, our plan and what happened with us on the battlefield today. I will then respond to the strange and bizarre “Israeli” narrative that we heard today.
From the beginning, we created a blueprint and framework for the response.
1- Our targets are not civilian targets. We want to hit “Israeli” targets, but we made sure not to hit civilian ones, knowing that there are civilian martyrs in Dahiyeh and that it is our right to target civilians. Civilians there are a red line.
Because we have been working – at the very least since 1992, after the martyrdom of Sayyed Abbas, and it was enshrined in the April 1996 Understanding – to protect civilians in Lebanon. To confirm the protection of civilians in Lebanon and spare them any harm that the enemy might inflict on them, we avoided hitting “Israeli” non-combatants.
This equation has so far protected [civilians in Lebanon] 11 months into the Al-Aqsa Flood. When it comes to martyrs, civilians or military, there is no difference between a few or many. Nevertheless, by calculation, we can say that our strategy has largely protected civilians in Lebanon. Hence, firstly, the target must not be civilian or the infrastructure.
2- Second, the target must be military. This military target must have a set of specifications. Among these is that it has to be connected to the assassination of martyred leader Sayyed Fouad.
This means, we either target a base linked to the “Israeli” military intelligence or a base linked to the “Israeli” air force because the assassination operation involved these two parties – the military intelligence and the air force.
This military target must also be near the city of “Tel Aviv”. This means it’s not “Acre” [Akka], “Nahariya”, “Tiberias” [Tabariyya], Haifa or beyond Haifa. On the contrary, it should be beyond, beyond Haifa, in the vicinity of “Tel Aviv”. It must be deep.
When we searched for targets, we found a group of important and large military targets in the vicinity of “Tel Aviv” that met the above specifications. At the end of the study, we determined a primary target for the operation, which I will announce now – the “Glilot” base. It was always a challenge for the brothers on how to pronounce it.
“Glilot” is to the east of the highway because there is a highway that goes north, and to the east, there is a base for the “Israeli” military intelligence. A little further west, there is a Mossad base.
It is a major base for the “Israeli” military intelligence directorate – Aman. It is home to Unit 8200, which is primarily responsible for collecting signal intelligence, spying, cyberwarfare, and espionage. It has huge technical equipment and a large number of officers and soldiers working there. It manages many of the assassination operations that take place in the region, as well as many of the psychological warfare, sedition, and deception operations that take place in our country and in our region.
This base is approximately 110 km from the Lebanese border. It is 1,500 meters from the borders of “Tel Aviv”, if we take the city borders only. In other words, it is in the outskirts of “Tel Aviv” and one of the neighboring bases that is very close to “Tel Aviv”. We considered it a central target. We also selected a secondary military target – a base that could affect the arrival of drones going to the Unit 8200 base in “Glilot”. It is an air and missile defense base in “Ein Shemer” located 75 km from the Lebanese border and 40 km from “Tel Aviv”.
These are the two military targets that were in the crosshairs of the resistance this morning. The original target was the “Israeli” military intelligence base in “Glilot”. This was the target along with other “Israeli” sites and barracks in northern occupied Palestine or in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. There are already operations being carried out in them almost on a daily basis.
We worked based on a plan. The reason I’m clarifying is to reply to the “Israeli” narrative. You will see the lies and claims as if the enemy government today was a Hollywood set.
As for the weapons used, it was decided that all sites and bases in northern occupied Palestine and the Syrian Golan would be targeted with Katyusha rockets, which we have been using for 11 months. There are dozens of rockets distributed along the front at various sites.
The plan was for the brothers to launch 300 Katyusha rockets and target these 11 or 12 sites. This number was enough to strike these sites. As for the talk about 8,000, 6,000 and 7,000, I will get to that. Second is to overwhelm the Iron Dome and the interceptor missiles for several minutes so that the drones can pass. We did not need more than that.
The other weapon was different sizes and types of drones. Some of these drones will head to “Ein Shemer”, and the larger part will head to the vicinity of the city of “Tel Aviv” to “Glilot”.
As for the timing and procedure, we chose to respond on Sunday morning, the anniversary of fortieth day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein [AS]. We agreed with the brothers that they would perform dawn prayers, do the necessary follow-ups, and be on their platforms and firing positions at 5:15 am. I will later talk about what the enemy did.
Before the appointed time, all the platforms for launching missiles were ready on all axes and lines. They were positioned, present, and programmed on time. There was no problem at all. All the drone launch sites were also ready before 5:15, whether south of the [Litani] river, north of the river, or even in the Beqaa region.
For your information, this is the first time we have launched drones from the Beqaa region. Of course, I am not revealing a secret because this appears on the enemy's radars, the Americans' and the “Israelis'”.
So, all the drones were also ready despite the enemy's raids that occurred half an hour before the start of the operation, and we will talk about this in a moment.
All missile platforms were operational without exception. In other words, the platforms that were required to launch 300 missiles all worked without exception. Not a single platform was hit before the commencement of our operation. After a while, I will talk about what happened after the operation. In total, we launched 340 missiles, surpassing our initial target of 300. I’m explaining this because the statement that was issued mentioned 320, but the final number was 340.
All the drone launch sites launched their drones despite the raids, and no drone site was hit, before and after the operation.
The missiles were launched in a sequential manner, i.e., not at the same time, but minutes apart. It took a bit of time, which led to hitting all the targets. 10 here, 15 there, 20 here and 25 there, according to how the young men launched the missiles.
All the drones crossed the Lebanese-Palestinian border, including the ones that entered quickly from the south of the [Litani] river, north of the river, and later from the Beqaa because there is a long distance. By the way, all the drones that were launched from the Beqaa, knowing that they must fly a long distance inside Lebanese territory, also crossed the Lebanese-Palestinian border safely towards the specified targets.
Regarding the sites in the northern region and the Syria’s Golan Heights, our data confirms that all of them were hit by missiles. Of course, some of the missiles were intercepted by interceptor missiles, and this was intended. We had to increase the number of our missiles to break the interceptor missiles, which would help the drones cross. We are not revealing a tactic. This is something that all the military men know, including the enemy.
Therefore, the quantitative military target that we said we would announce at a later time is the “Israeli” military intelligence’s [Aman] base Unit 8200, in “Glilot” near the city of “Tel Aviv”. This is the primary target, and the supporting or secondary target is the missile and air defense base in “Ein Shemer”.
Our data and some of our information sources confirm that a significant number of drones successfully managed to reach these two targets. However, the enemy is keeping quiet as usual. In any case, the days and nights will reveal the truth of what happened there.
This is our side of the story. On the other hand, since the morning we have heard the enemy’s side of the story. Netanyahu personally participated in spreading as well as the army and the official army spokesman.
In the afternoon, the “Israelis” started to modify their side of the story. They started to modify the numbers, the quality, and the language. I saw in some of the enemy’s media that there was advice for Netanyahu and the enemy’s army to correct some of the information they had said before six o’clock, because so-and-so will speak at six o’clock. What is the center of all these claims?
They claimed that they’ve uncovered the operation and that it was a very big operation – 8000 missiles and drones that will target “Tel Aviv” and vital facilities in it and elsewhere. They claimed to have launched a preemptive attack, hitting, striking, destroying, killing and thwarting our operation. They were celebrating their success. This is their side of the story.
If this narrative helps the enemy calm down and ease their madness a little, we are not sad. However, this narrative riddled with lies. We should stop at this for a moment. When “Israel” that considers itself the strongest country with the strongest army in the Middle East resorts to lies, this reveals the entity’s level of delusion, failure, and weakness.
This is a lesson from today’s confrontation. I consider it one of the achievements of Operation Arbaeen Day to avenge Dahiyeh, the martyrs of Dahiyeh, and the leader Sayyed Fouad Shokor. This is one of the achievements that I will talk about.
The talk that the resistance planned to target the city of “Tel Aviv” or targets inside the city of “Tel Aviv” such as the Ministry of War or Ben Gurion Airport is a false claim. I explained from the beginning that the plan and operation were primarily aimed at this base. Talking about our intention to attack civilian targets in the north or center and that the enemy also foiled these targets is another false claim. All the resistance’s missiles were launched at military targets and bases in the north. They did not reach any settlements. Any injuries in “Nahariya”, “Acre” [Akka] and elsewhere were caused by “Israeli” interception missiles.
The talk that the resistance was going to launch 8,000 rockets and drones [they reduced the number a little, 6,000 rockets and drones] and that they thwarted the attack and destroyed them completely is a false claim. All we wanted to launch in this operation was 300 rockets, and yet we launched 340 rockets. This means that they did not thwart anything. Everything went according to plan and more, in addition to a large number of drones. I will not mention the exact number of drones for considerations.
The enemy claimed that it hit our strategic and precision missiles, i.e. ballistic missiles, that were prepared to target “Tel Aviv” or any other target, and that it saved “Tel Aviv” and the vital facilities and destroyed these missiles. This is also a lie.
We had no intention of using these missiles, but we may use them in the future or sometime soon. However, based on a precise and clear vision, we did not want to use these missiles in this operation since the goal could have been achieved through the use of a certain type of drones, this tactic we followed, and the large number of drones that were launched. I assure you that none of the missiles they are talking about – the strategic, precision, and ballistic missiles – were hit.
There is a failure similar to that of Operation Specific Weight [Operation Density] in 2006. The failure behind Operation Specific Weight in 2006 was Hajj Imad Mughniyeh while he was still alive. Meanwhile, today's failure was caused by the leader Sayyed Mohsen [Sayyed Fouad Shokor]. It was realized after his martyrdom.
How exactly? There are many valleys and empty areas in some southern regions. The enemy claims that they can destroy the ballistic and precision missiles platforms as well as facilities that are in these valleys and areas.
Some time ago, the leader Sayyed Fouad Shokor decided and informed the brothers to evacuate these valleys and facilities. What was bombed were empty valleys or valleys that were cleared of this type of missiles. I am talking about something that has to do with ballistics and precision missiles that they call strategic missiles.
Of course, during this period, whenever a warehouse was bombed, their official spokesman, known in “Israel” as one of the biggest liars, would issue a statement saying that they struck strategic missiles. All the while, we were silent, and they were happy about it. It’s fine, let him believe that they hit strategic missiles. This is a failure; this is a new failure for an operation similar to 2006’s Operation Specific Weight.
Also, the “Israeli” army's claim and Netanyahu himself adopted this narrative and repeated it in his government in the afternoon, that it destroyed thousands of rockets and thousands of rocket launch pads, is false. Of course, before noon they did not say Katyusha rockets. In the afternoon, when it became clear they said short-range rockets. In other words, they began to modify in the afternoon, including the talk about 8,000 and 6,000 rockets that were destroyed.
First, I mentioned that the drone sites, despite all the raids that took place, were not hit. Missiles were launched from the platforms and were not hit by the previous raids. Only two of our rocket launch pads were hit by the strikes after our operation and not before it. This is normal and happens every day in the south.
Allow me to mention an important detail as a general knowledge and for public opinion. How much does a platform cost us? If we fix it properly and tune it up, it will cost us between $ 8,000 and $ 10,000.
Therefore, when we set up a platform, and the young men launch rockets from it, for us the lives and blood of these young men are much more valuable than this platform, so we leave it. Many platforms have had rockets launched from them and they remained in their places and were not bombed by the enemy.
Other platforms were discovered by the enemy and bombed them. This is normal. Yes, we have thousands of these platforms. You can calculate the price of these platforms. How many rockets did they launch at this platform that costs between $6,000, $8,000, and $10,000? This does not change anything in the equation. We have many Katyusha platforms. This is regarding the platforms that launched the rockets.
The “Israelis” targeted some valleys that were not part of the area of operations. This, of course, indicates something important that I will point out. They targeted some valleys and destroyed a number of platforms with a number of missiles on them. In other words, the “Israelis” targeted dozens of missile and platforms. This is not a problem.
They are talking about 200 raids, about a hundred planes, and 200 raids, and the result is the destruction of this number of Katyusha launch pads. What is the problem? In light of what happened today, in light of this great, mighty, and powerful scene that we witnessed on this front, I would like to stress an important point.
The enemy started its raids 30 minutes prior to our operation whether south of the river or north of the river. This proves that it did not have intelligence information despite all the “Israeli”, American, European, and Western land, areal, and marine technical capabilities at its service. It rather sensed movement because the “Israelis” are up and alert day and night.
An hour before the start of the operation, let's say since 4 o'clock, there a large number of mujahideen, whether south of the Litani or north of the Litani, will head to the positions and platforms and do their job. The “Israelis” sensed this movement that pushed it to carry out these raids, and all the targeted areas had nothing to do with our operation today.
This indicates that they did not have intelligence information and started talking about having achieved an intelligence accomplishment. If planes had taken off and raided these platforms that had 300 missiles on them and raided the positions that had dozens of drones on them, we could have said that there was an intelligence breach or a technical or human intelligence breakthrough that enabled them to foil the operation.
I wanted to point this out. What happened was an aggression and not a preemptive action. Let us assume that it was a preemptive action, it left no impact whatsoever on our military operation today – not on our missiles, drones, or mujahideen and fighters.
Throughout today’s operation, from the time the drones crossed the border and the missiles were launched, we had no martyrs despite the bombardment of many valleys. After the operation ended, the enemy bombed several places, which led to the martyrdom of one of our dear brothers from the Amal Movement and two martyrs from Hezbollah. This is the outcome of this long battle and all these dangerous raids that took place today.
In fact, the “Israeli” rhetoric is full of lies and false claims. It was an intelligence failure because they did not discover our platforms, our drones, or our drone landing sites. Our entire operation was successfully completed. They suffered an intelligence failure, a failure in proactive work, and a failure in the issue of the specific weight that was targeting the ballistic missiles.
On the other hand, our military operation today was accomplished as it was meticulously planned by its leaders, its mujahideen, its operations rooms, and its field despite all the difficult circumstances. You all know that the drones have filled the skies of the south since the martyrdom of Sayed Fouad, anticipating the action that the resistance will take. All the “Israeli” talk we heard today about great military, security, and so-and-so achievements, foiling the resistance’s operation, etc. are baseless. They are lying to each other.
Today, we witnessed a scene that highlights the courage of the resistance and all those who support it. We cannot talk about names. When this decision was made despite all the American and Western intimidation, you saw how delegations, foreign ministers, defense ministers, intelligence ministers and information ministers came and warned that if Hezbollah responded, “Israel” will destroy the country, etc. This era is over.
I'm not saying that it can or can't do so, but to do so, it has to make very complicated calculations. We launched Katyusha rockets and drones, which paralyzed all of “Israel”. The entire entity from north to south was in a standstill; Ben Gurion Airport was shut down; they opened the shelters in “Tel Aviv”. Imagine what they would do if we launched something else! Despite all the intimidation that unfortunately some inside Lebanon helped with, the resistance made this decision and went ahead and did not delay any longer.
So the scene of the resistance’s courage, the resistance’s decision, the resistance’s steadfastness, the resistance’s strength, the resistance’s human, material and military capabilities and capacities, and this is the first major operation that the resistance has undertaken in the absence of a great leader like Sayyed Fouad, and in all the performance and in all the work there was no defect, deficiency or blemish, praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and we believe that the souls of our martyred leaders are present with us, supporting and guiding us, because these martyrs have a status with God Almighty that does not occur to the mind of a human being, if we talk about it there may be people who will not comprehend this subject.
Hence, we witnessed a scene that showed the resistance's courage, resoluteness, steadfastness, and strength as well as the resistance's human, material and military capabilities and capacities.
This is the first major operation that the resistance has undertaken in the absence of a great leader like Sayed Fouad. There was no flaw, deficiency, or blemish in all the performance and work, praise be to God. We believe that the souls of our martyred leaders are present with us, supporting and guiding us because these martyrs have a status with God Almighty that cannot be imagined by the human mind. If we talk about it, perhaps there will be people who will not understand this subject.
In any case, this expresses the courage, steadfastness, strength, mastery, and presence of this resistance. On the other hand, there is a scene of terror in the entity, at Ben Gurion Airport, in the cities, and in the settlements. Shelters in the north, in the center, and in "Gush Dan" were opened. Millions fled to shelters and to fortified places.
This is a scene that expresses this balance that we were talking about. We never talked about a balance in numbers between us and the “Israelis”. Unfortunately, some detractors in Lebanon lie like the “Israelis”.
We never talked about a balance in numbers, nor did we talk about a balance in weapons, air capabilities, missile capabilities, military capabilities, or technical capabilities. “Israel” has America and NATO behind it, and we all know this.
But we were talking about a balance that blood, will, courage, boldness, and patience create and defeat the sword. This is what we’ve been experiencing in Lebanon for decades. We removed weakness, frailty, humiliation, and disgrace from our country. This is “Israel” today.
Yes, the south was suffering to a certain extent, and yet the enemy was bombing the outskirts of villages, valleys, mountains, and did not dare to harm civilians. This is a point of strength.
The entire “Israeli” entity was in a state of terror, in a state of astonishment, in a state of alert; they all went down to the shelter, the Prime Minister, the Minister of War, etc.
Meanwhile, the enemy does not dare harm the civilians in Lebanon, why? Is it because the “Israelis” have values and morals? You see what they are doing to civilians in Gaza. Is it because they are following international law? Is it because of the international community? Is it because of the Arab world? Is it because of the Arab League? Is it because of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation?
No! it is because of the resistance. There is a will to resist; there are honorable resistance fighters; and there is an environment that embraces the resistance no matter the cost. This is the equation that we have returned to consolidate on this day.
As for the next stage, we said in the statements we issued we said there is an initial response. Of course, when we said the first stage, we meant by it the striking of military bases in the north, and the second stage is the launching of the drones, their crossing of the border, and their arrival at the desired targets.
This means that our operation today was in two stages. There are some who considered it all to be the first stage.
No, it is a two-stage operation. The first stage consists of launching 340 Katyusha rockets and targeting 11 or 12 important military sites and barracks in northern occupied Palestine and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. The second stage consists of the crossing of dozens of drones of different sizes and types towards military targets deep inside the entity.
This operation is over today. We said the initial response. Has this file been closed?
I can tell you with transparency, that we will follow up on the result of the enemy’s concealment of what happened in these two bases, especially in “Glilot”. We will follow up on our sources and the information that we can obtain and so on.
If the outcome of our initial retaliation operation turns out to be satisfying, we will consider our response to the assassination of the martyred leader Sayed Mohsen and the targeting of Dahiyeh as complete, but if it turns out to be insufficient, we will reserve the right to respond later. Let people calm their nerves. The Lebanese who fled can return to their homes.
The country is calming down again. The whole country was tense, naturally, and the psychological warfare and rumors since the assassination of the martyred leader Hajj Mohsen made it worse. If we later decide that this initial response is not sufficient and needs to be completed, this will come in time, God willing. It will come later.
At the current stage, Lebanon can rest. In any case, the enemy announced, even though it is treacherous, that what happened today is over. In our third statement, we also announced the end of the military operations for today. Only time will tell based on facts, truths, events, and results.
Of course, at the end of the speech, I must emphasize that our operation today might prove useful for the Palestinian side or for the Arab side negotiating alongside the Palestinian team when it comes to the negotiations. The message to the enemy and the Americans, who are backing it, is that if they have any hope of silencing the support fronts in Lebanon, Yemen, or Iraq – i.e. these open fronts – they will be disappointed.
Despite the sacrifices made by all these fronts, especially the Lebanese front, despite the martyrs, despite the wounds, despite the destroyed homes and daily confrontations, we will continue what we started 11 months ago, God willing.
Regardless of the prevailing circumstances, challenges, or sacrifices, we will never abandon Gaza, its people, its resistance, Palestine, or the Umah’s sanctities in Palestine.
Today, on the day of the Master of Martyrs, Abu Abdullah Al-Hussein [AS], I will conclude with a speech he delivered on the tenth of Muharram while he was surrounded by thousands of fierce and savage fighters. When he was offered to abandon rightness and to surrender, he delivered his well-known word that we repeat on our religious and political occasions.
I conclude with it on the Arbaeen, on the day we launched Operation Arbaeen Day, on the day of revenge and just retribution for the blood of the martyred leader, Hajj Sayyed Fouad Shokor [Sayyed Mohsen], the martyred women and children in Dahiyeh, and all our martyrs in Lebanon. We affirm the same speech and the same psychological, spiritual, intellectual and ideological content of that speech:
“Beware! Now this illegitimate son of the illegitimate father has stationed me between two things.” “Israel”, this illegitimate entity, is the son of America, which is also illegitimate. It is a state that slaughtered a hundred million Red Indians.
Today, our Mujahideen and resistance fighters in Lebanon and in all the fronts, as well as our people and environment, including the families of our martyrs, our wounded, our men, women and children, our young and old in our cities, villages, and neighborhoods, say what their Imam said: “We will never accept humiliation!” We are a people who cannot accept humiliation and cannot bow to anyone. Our oppressed blood will triumph over this sword.
Today, we are not fighting with blood only, but we are fighting with the mind, with weapons, with drones, and with hidden and concealed ballistic missiles for a day that may come. This enemy must be very careful and understand very well the reality and nature of Lebanon and the major changes that have occurred in Lebanon. Lebanon is no longer weak that you can invade with a music band. A day might come when we will invade you with a music band.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.
