Nasrallah acknowledges ‘unprecedented’ defeat in alleged Israeli attacks
Hezbollah suffered an unparalleled defeat, the Lebanese terrorist group’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on Thursday, saying that the alleged Israeli attacks using its communication devices amounted to a declaration of war.
“There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of our resistance and perhaps in the history of the conflict with the enemy,” the Iranian-backed Islamist said in a televised address, adding that there is “no doubt” that Hezbollah has been breached by Israeli intelligence.
“We know that the enemy has superiority on the technological level because it has American and NATO support,” he said.
As Nasrallah spoke from his bunker, Israeli jets broke the sound barrier over Beirut, with the BBC reporting “huge sonic booms” in the capital.
According to the Hezbollah chief, Israel “crossed all red lines” by targeting terrorist operatives in the attacks that saw thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
“This blow, no matter how big or strong, cannot break us. I can assure you faithfully and with confidence: This hard, unprecedented blow did not bring us to our knees—and it will not,” Nasrallah vowed.
“Can you return the displaced [Israeli civilians] to the north [the Upper Galilee]? We accept this challenge, but you will not be able to return them,” the terrorist leader said, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly. “What you are doing will increase the displacement of your displaced settlers from the north and will cancel the opportunity for their return.”
‘The price must be high’
Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are “leading their entity into a destructive abyss and a third historic humiliation,” said Nasrallah, referencing the destruction of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 C.E.
Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks on the Jewish state will continue, “no matter the consequences,” until Israel Defense Forces troops leave the Gaza Strip and end the campaign against Hamas terrorists, he said.
Regarding a possible Israeli ground operation in Southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah chief declared that “if they come to us, they are welcome, and we will consider this threat a historic opportunity that we hope for.
“The [IDF] commander of the northern region [OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin], a fool, proposed creating a buffer zone [in Lebanon],” Nasrallah said. “If you think you’re building a security belt around the resistance and you think you’re limiting the fighting to this zone, your military centers will be targeted in the north of occupied Palestine [northern Israel] and even further!”
On Tuesday, 3,000-plus Hezbollah operatives were wounded and at least 34 were killed when their pagers exploded, with the Lebanese terrorist group immediately blaming the Jewish state.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the two waves of explosions—the first of which came hours after the Israeli Cabinet added the return of citizens displaced from their homes in the north to the country’s war goals, bringing a major clash with Hezbollah closer.
Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of civilians remain internally displaced due to the violence.
A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons will likely retaliate against Israel for the pager attacks, but “it could take them time to do so while they assess what happened.”
Israeli security officials also believe that Hezbollah is preparing for a large-scale assault in response to the attack attributed to Jerusalem, the Israeli Kan News public broadcaster reported on Tuesday night.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Wednesday night approved “attack and defense plans for the north,” the army said.
“We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated—I repeat, we have not yet activated. We saw some of these things here,” Halevi said in remarks made at IDF Northern Command headquarters in Safed.
“The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high,” the Israeli army chief said.
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