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Three key points can be drawn from the speech of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who reiterated, in broad terms, what he said last week about the military conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In a televised speech to mark “Martyrs’ Day”, which the pro-Iranian group celebrates every year on November 11, Hassan Nasrallah appealed to the Americans, albeit with threats, to put an end to the attacks that Israel has relentlessly carried out on Gaza since the large-scale military operation launched by Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7. He also addressed the Israelis, practically telling them that they are engaged in a war of attrition from which they will not emerge victorious. As for the third message of the hour-long speech, it concerns both the Israelis and the Lebanese, as Hassan Nasrallah indirectly confirmed that he is abiding by the rules of the game that have governed the battle between his group and the Israeli army since the opening of the southern front on October 8.
Hassan Nasrallah began by stigmatizing Tel Aviv’s “intensive and continuous aggression against hospitals in Gaza,” which he considers as part of a “vengeful Israeli operation whose main aim is to subjugate the Palestinians, the Lebanese and all the peoples of the region, thereby neutralizing their claims to their legitimate rights.”
This introduction gave him the opportunity to directly question the United States, which “supports, directs and even leads the military operations in Gaza,” arguing that the pressure exerted “must be directed against the US administration.” “The Arab and Islamic summit in Riyadh is taking place in the presence of the leaders of 57 states (….), from whom the Palestinians are asking the minimum: the adoption of a unified position calling on the Americans to put an end to the offensive against Gaza,” he said.
The Hezbollah leader, who denounced British support for the United States over Gaza, stressed “the importance of international mobilization against Israel’s actions.” The world will no longer tolerate this situation in Gaza,” he insisted, stressing the need for Arab and Islamic leaders to take advantage of this mobilization, which he said would “put significant pressure on the Americans and Israelis.” “This pressure will annoy the enemy,” he insisted, before explaining what he sees as the tactical importance of the fronts opened by the pro-Iranian militias, including his own, in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. He mentioned Hamas only to mock the goal of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to “eradicate” the Palestinian Islamist group.
“Supporting Fronts”
If Hassan Nasrallah structured his speech to give an overview of what each militia is doing at its own level to “support the Gaza front,” particularly by targeting American objectives in the region, it is essentially to send the following message to Washington: “If you want these operations to stop, you have to stop the war in Gaza,” he bargained, while downplaying the importance of “the American threats transmitted through various channels” and stressing the importance of what he called “the support fronts,” including Syria. Except that, when referring to Syria, he went out of his way to justify his non-involvement in the conflict, stressing all the “difficulties and pressures” Syria faces.
On the other hand, according to Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon is one of the “supporting fronts.” The Hezbollah leader once again tried to be more or less reassuring on this front, implicitly reaffirming his group’s attachment to the rules of engagement that have governed the battle between his group and the Israeli army since October 8. All the while, of course, threatening the worst.
He promised the Israelis “to continue the drone attacks” and stressed that since the drones targeted civilians last week, killing a woman and her three granddaughters in Aïnata, his group had used Katyusha rockets “for the first time since October 8 and Burkane (volcano) missiles capable of dropping 300 to 500 tonnes of explosives.” Hassan Nasrallah also said that his group had responded to these rockets “by striking deep into Israel, also for the first time.” “We say it officially, it will be civilians against civilians,” he warned, while stressing that it is the field that will ultimately determine how the battle unfolds.
The Hezbollah leader then turned to the time factor, which he said would “wear down Israel and prevent it from emerging victorious from this war.” “We are waging a war of attrition against an enemy that is facing many difficulties, economic, social, with the displacement of populations, and humanitarian, because of the pressure from the families of the prisoners in Gaza. All these pressures are not working in its favor and will lead to its defeat,” he said, forgetting that the Lebanese, drawn into this front, are suffering enormous difficulties, albeit different ones.
Hassan Nasrallah’s only comment on the matter was that his party’s actions “enjoy broad support in Lebanon” and that its critics “represent a minority that does not deserve to be answered.”
Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s secretary general was swift: “If the slightest serious mistake is made, Beirut will suffer the same fate as Gaza,” threatened Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Later during the evening, Israeli Prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned Hezbollah against intervening in the war between Israel and Hamas. “It will be the mistake of your lives, the premier says, and would seal Lebanon’s fate”.
