Deputy chief says Hezbollah ready for a ground confrontation with Israel

He made the remarks on Monday noon as he delivered a televised speech broadcast live in Beirut in commemoration of late Hezbollah chief Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was martyred on Friday after the Israeli regime bombarded a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital using US-provided weapons and munitions.

“Despite the loss of our leaders and the great sacrifices, we will not renounce our stances and the resistance will continue to assist Palestine. We have persevered despite all the attacks.”

“We will continue Nasrallah’s path and Hezbollah will continue its goals. Hezbollah’s operations continued after its late leader’s assassination,” he emphasized.

The Hezbollah deputy chief offered his deepest condolences to Imam Mahdi, the Twelfth and last Shia Imam, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, resistance fighters across West Asia, Lebanon, and freedom-loving peoples worldwide over the loss of Nasrallah.

“With the martyrdom of Seyyed Nasrallah, we lost a brother, a dear friend and a great leader. He was present on the battlefield and pursued the line of jihad for many years. He followed the path of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, and his successor Ayatollah Khamenei.”

“Seyyed Nasrallah was the leader of freedom fighters, and his primary goal was the liberation of Palestine and holy al-Quds. Know that he will always be among us,” he added.

Sheikh Qassem stated that Israeli forces are killing and committing massacres against civilians across Lebanon, and are attacking civilian and health facilities.

“The Zionist regime does not face off resistance fighters, but it rather kills innocents. The US is a partner with Israel, through unlimited military support – culturally, politically, financially,” Sheikh Qassem pointed out.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the top Hezbollah official underlined that Israel is delusional if it thinks that it can achieve its goals through massacres and Western support.

Sheikh Qassem stated that Hezbollah fighters are prepared and “we will emerge victorious in case the Israeli enemy decides to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon.”

“Israel will not be able to degrade our military capabilities,” he stressed.

“Following the martyrdom of Seyyed Nasrallah, Ma’ale Adumim settlement was targeted and millions of settlers in Haifa had to take refuge in shelters. What we are doing now is the least of our capabilities on the battlefield.”

“We know that the battle might be lengthy. All options are on the table and we are ready for all scenarios,” he said.

Sheikh Qassem also noted that Hezbollah will pick a new secretary-general in the near future.

“We will choose the secretary general for Hezbollah sooner rather than later, according to the mechanism that we have in place,” he added.

He also praised the national unity in Lebanon and thanked the Lebanese government, political forces, all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and hospitals.

“We will win, just as we won in our confrontation with Israel in 2006,” Hezbollah’s deputy chief concluded.