Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaking on September 19, 2024 (Al-Manar TV\Screenshot)
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the coordinated pager and walkie-talkie blasts in Lebanon on September 17 and 18, saying that the sabotage attack “violated all red lines.”
In a televised speech on September 19, Nasrallah called the attack, which killed 37 people and wounded more than 3,450 others, “an unprecedented massacre.”
“On Tuesday, Israel intended to kill 4,000 people in one minute by detonating the pagers. Many of them were civilians. The following day, 1,000 more in one minute. In two minutes, Israel intended to kill 5,000,” the Lebanese leader said.
“We have suffered a heavy blow. This is war, this is conflict. We know the enemy, not only Israel but also the US and NATO, has technological superiority,” he added.
In addition, Nasrallah vowed that Hezbollah will prevent Israel from realizing the recently-added war objective to return Israelis displaced from the border area in the north to their homes.
“The goal of the resistance is to prevent the enemy from realizing its goals. Its latest objective is to return settlers to their homes in the north of occupied Palestine,” the leader said.
“Let me tell the Israeli government, the Israeli army and the Israeli people: You will not manage. I tell Prime Minister Netanyahu: You can do what you want, you will not manage. The only solution is to halt the aggression against the people of Gaza. No military escalation, no killings, no total war will return your settlers to the border area. You know it,” he added.
Nasrallah further dismisses the idea recently put forward by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Northern Command head Major General Ori Gordin to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon earlier this week, calling Gordin an “imbecile.”
The leader said that he hopes Israeli forces will enter southern Lebanon, because it will create an “historic opportunity” for Hezbollah.
In addition, Nasrallah vowed retaliation for the unprecedented sabotage attack against communications devices held by Hezbollah members.
“There will be a just punishment. I will not say when, where or how. You will know when the time comes,” he said. “The news is in what you will see, not in what you will hear.”
During the speech, Israeli fighter jets flew at a low altitude and dropped flares over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in an apparent message to Hezbollah.
Furthermore, the IDF announced another wave of strikes against Lebanon after the death of two troops in attacks claimed by Hezbollah. Hebrew media also reported that the Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi held an assessment and approved battle plans for the northern front.
All in all, Israel appears to be preparing to escalate its operations against Hezbollah which has been launching attacks against the IDF in support of the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the war on the Palestinian enclave last October. No level of escalation will likely manage to force the group to cease its operations.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
