Hezbollah’s deputy leader, sweating, says group ready to face potential IDF ground op
Looking uncomfortable in recorded speech, the first by Hezbollah official since Israel killed Nasrallah, Naim Qassem says new leader to be named soon, fallen commanders replaceable
Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Monday that his organization is ready for any potential ground operation by Israeli troops, in the first speech by an official of the terror group since its leader was killed.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated on Friday by Israel, the climax of a series of airstrikes over the week that eliminated much of the terror group’s command structure.
“We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement,” Qassem said in prerecorded remarks.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Israeli special forces have already launched small raids into Lebanon in recent months, including sending troops into Hezbollah tunnels along the border ahead of a wider offensive.
“Despite the losses of its commanders, the attacks against civilians throughout Lebanon, and great sacrifices, we will not budge from our position,” Qassem said in a speech from an undisclosed location in Beirut. “We will continue to support Gaza and to defend Lebanon.”
Qassem, who appeared to be sweating profusely throughout his speech, asserted that Hezbollah will continue in the footsteps of Nasrallah, who led it since 1992.
He said the terror group is continuing its operations, working according to plans already laid out, and described its attacks on Israel thus far as the “minimum.” He added that while the battle could be long, Hezbollah is confident that Israel will not achieve its aims.
Qassem eulogized Nasrallah for his leadership, and his popularity with the masses, and said that Hezbollah has already proven its determination to continue fighting, by firing rockets on Haifa and on the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, an attack that the terror group had previously not claimed and that according to Qassem, sent a million people into bomb shelters.
He also said Hezbollah will elect a new secretary-general as soon as possible, using an internal process, highlighting that for every commander and every official, there are replacements.
Alongside Nasrallah, more than 20 Hezbollah operatives were killed in the massive airstrike in Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday, including Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and several of the terror leader’s advisers.
It is expected that Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s cousin and head of Hezbollah’s executive council, will be picked as the new leader.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.
Since Israel escalated its airstrikes against Hezbollah on Monday, more than 630 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry. Thousands of pagers detonated on their Hezbollah owners last week, putting a reported 1,500 fighters from the terror group out of commission, in an attack blamed on Israel.
Israel has said it targeted homes in which Hezbollah emplaced missiles and rockets, having urged residents to flee. It says that many Hezbollah operatives are among the dead. Numerous senior Hezbollah commanders have been killed, as well as leaders of the group’s elite Radwan Force, which Israel says was planning an invasion of the Galilee.
At least a quarter of those killed have been women and children, according to Lebanese health officials, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel has said that many Hezbollah operatives are among the dead.
