In a speech delivered in Beirut, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, posed a question: "Do you expect to isolate the Palestinian resistance without the resistance fighters in the region taking action? Know that the resistance is no longer just a party or a group; it is entire peoples in our region. The man is a resistor, the woman is a resistor, the child is a resistor. For Hezbollah, the resistance is unified in a project aimed at defeating the Israeli entity; our compass is Palestine, specifically Jerusalem. We, as Hezbollah, are concerned with accompaniment and confrontation in line with our vision that serves the victory of the resistance, the future of this nation, and the liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem, and all the occupied lands in our region."
He added, "We are fighting in southern Lebanon for Lebanon and Palestine, and for the future of our generations. We are today at the heart of the battle and are achieving accomplishments in this struggle. Do you know that three Israeli brigades are located in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, and five brigades are facing Gaza? If Hezbollah were not part of this confrontation, all these brigades would be there, and we are striving to work in a way that weakens this Israeli enemy. Let it be known that we are ready and present. Recently, there have been communications with us to refrain from participating more broadly in the resistance operations, and they always await our response; they want the answer that says we have no relation, but we always tell them that we are concerned and part of this battle.
Let it be clear that as events unfold and what requires our larger intervention arises, we will act accordingly. We do not consider that we have fulfilled our duty in the south to this extent and then stop; rather, this is a phase that aligns with the confrontation, and if more is required of us, we will be present in the field with the resistance as an integral part of the confrontation project to ensure that Israel does not succeed."
