Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah declared, “Any state that moves towards normalization with Israel must be condemned, as this goes beyond political relations, and undermines the sacred values of Islam and Christianity, and abandons the Palestinians while strengthening the enemy,” thus openly criticizing the progress of negotiations for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. 

In a speech delivered on Monday to mark the commemoration of the birth of the Prophet, Hassan Nasrallah also raised the point that “some want to debase humanity by promoting homosexuality and human bestiality,” pointing out that “some use media warfare, or what they call soft war, to weaken people, something that has not been achieved by military wars,” referring to the local TV channel MTV, which aired an advert a few weeks ago to decriminalize homosexuality. 

Regarding the delimitation of land borders, Nasrallah stressed that “the use of the term ‘demarcation of land borders’ is incorrect, as the borders are already determined.” He added, “The right to water and the right to land are absolute rights that must not be compromised for other issues.” He also pointed out that, according to his information, “the initial indications concerning the Block 9 reserves are positive.”

Turning to the issue of the presidential election, the leader of the pro-Iranian formation asserted that “there is a real opportunity in the dialogue initiated by House Speaker Nabih Berri, but that this has been spoiled by political obstinacy,” adding that the French initiative led by the representative of French President Jean-Yves Le Drian must be evaluated and studied to see where it stands. He added, “The Qatari emissary is making daily efforts, but there is no clarity or novelty in the short term as far as the presidential election is concerned.”

On the issue of Syrian migrants, the Hezbollah Secretary-General said, “Some consider the presence of these migrants to be an existential and security threat to Lebanon,” questioning what those who are concerned about this threat are doing. Therefore, he called for “a unified national strategy, accepted by the Lebanese and presented to the world and the country’s friends, to put pressure on the outgoing government, the Lebanese army, the security forces and the municipalities, as this could lead us to results.” He stressed, “Nobody in Lebanon knows the real number of Syrian refugees. There should therefore be a serious census, and a distinction made between the workforce and refugees.” He noted that the priority is to resolve the causes of this crisis, not its consequences. The main responsibility for the safe influx of refugees into Lebanon lies with those who started the war in Syria, namely the American administration,” declared Nasrallah, ignoring the bloodthirsty and dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad, which has caused the death and exodus of hundreds of thousands of people. “The United States has imposed the Caesar law on Syria and riddled it with sanctions, preventing companies from investing in Syria, which has caused economic hardship and migration to Lebanon. Therefore, as long as Lebanon does not catch its breath, the Caesar law must be lifted,” he said. 

In addition, the head of the Shiite formation called for the creation of an all-party political commission to deal with this issue, stressing the need “not to turn the current climate into one of hostility towards refugees, and not to overstep the bounds of the law and ethics towards them.” He continued, “If Hezbollah controlled the decision-making power in Lebanon, the Prime Minister would have been dispatched to Syria to discuss this issue with the Syrian government, which proves the lie of this proposal.” 

He concluded his speech by saying, “There is a questionable idea that the Lebanese state should allow the Syrian refugees who wish to do so to head to Europe, which would inevitably lead to European countries coming to Beirut to discuss their demands to end this migration, as Turkey has done.”