Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered on Friday a televised speech on the anniversary of the Divine Victory over the Israeli enemy in 2006, affirming that the Israeli enemy has always resorted to pretexts in order to wage prepared wars on Lebanon.
Sheikh Qassem pointed out that on March 2, 2026, the Resistance responded to the assassination of Imam Leader Khamenei. “The response also summarized the pain we endured for 15 months of Israeli violations. The result was that the aggressive Israeli war was opened on Lebanon. He noted that all evidence afterwards confirmed that if the war had not been opened on March 2, it would have been opened later in March, because the Israelis were ready for it and because they want to carry out this wide-scale aggressive act,” His Eminence added.
Sheikh Qassem said: “For us, the war was an aggressive, existential war. Therefore, we confronted it with a Karbala-like confrontation, because we considered we had one of two choices: either we fall and surrender and the Israelis win, or we remain steadfast and defeat the Israeli project.”
He said that the Resistance prevented the enemy from achieving its objectives, and it is proceeding with its choices. Whoever bets on surrender is betting on a mirage and does not know the Resistance well.
He noted that the Resistance and the people of the Resistance endure and are patient because we are facing choices that we cannot accept when they lead to surrender and collapse.
Sheikh Qassem pointed out that the Lebanese authority went to the “Framework Agreement,” which is neither an agreement nor a framework. It is Israeli diktats written with Israeli ink, signed by the Lebanese authority, giving Israel everything it wants, and the Lebanese authority relinquishes sovereignty.
He noted that the Israeli enemy would not have carried out all this aggression and all this annihilation without the Americans.
Sheikh Qassem said: “Everyone who watched the scene in Washington saw one team called the American-Israeli team. As for the Lebanese team, it was subordinate and was implementing what America said.”
Sheikh Qassem addressed the Authority: “Give us one achievement that was made in the seven rounds. The Israeli enemy got everything and everything it wants. Our problem with the agreement is, first, the direct negotiations, because you give Israel in advance what it wants. And second, the entire content.”
Sheikh Qassem affirmed that the authority must admit that it has failed and return to its people to reach a unified, guaranteeing position of strength, and to use elements of power to confront this arrogant Israeli enemy, and to employ all the cards we have: the card of the Resistance, unity, and sovereignty, in order to confront it with them.
He said that this negotiation will only bring disgrace and shame, and with its continuation the disgrace and shame will continue and grow even more.
Sheikh Qassem asked: “Isn’t it enough for this authority what the Israeli enemy has done and what it does daily of aggressive practices: demolishing homes and villages, occupying land, and killing people?” And he asked: “What is this innovation you called ‘experimental areas’? Zawtar al-Gharbiya, which was not occupied, is now ‘experimental’ on the condition that Israel allows you to enter it? From the liberated lands, do we say there is liberation? Or is this giving Israel guarantees to deploy in the liberated lands under the pretext of ‘investigation’ and that it wants to supervise the Lebanese reality.”
Sheikh Qassem asked: “What is happening in Al-Mansouri, even though it is a liberated village? Yet the Israelis displaced its people and prevented the Lebanese Army from entering.” Sheikh Qassem said: “At the very least you should have walked out of the session, and you didn’t. And you should have said we are stopping negotiations because there is no withdrawal.”
And he affirmed: “We know that the American tells you behind closed doors that they cannot do anything with the Israeli enemy because they support its steps.”
Sheikh Qassem addressed the Authority: “At least respond to Katz and Netanyahu with a position.”
Sheikh Qassem said to the Authority: “I call on you to backtrack from this sinful mistake, this shameful mistake, this humiliating mistake, this mistake that raises question marks about what these officials are doing.”
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah affirmed that what is happening is surrender, and “we do not accept surrender. We will remain standing, steadfast. We do not accept the violation of our country’s sovereignty and for the blood of martyrs to be wasted,” calling on the authority to stop accumulating failure because “this accumulation destroys the country, harms the country, and harms the future.”
Sheikh Qassem noted that no matter how harsh the present is, the future, according to the divine promise and what we do as a duty, will, God willing, lead to changing these realities. And “our bet is on the Resistance, the people, and the patriots.”
His Eminence affirmed that “the steadfastness of the Resistance and Iran placing the issue of Lebanon as a first condition in the Islamabad understanding document is what curbed the Israeli enemy.”
He said: “Some say that 300,000 citizens returned because of the ‘Framework Agreement.’ This is laughable. What brought people back is the Islamabad Agreement, and what stopped the ceasefire in its wide form is the Islamabad Agreement.”
He affirmed that “our position today is that we are on the path of the absent Imam Mousa al-Sadr, who announced that Israel is absolute evil and that the South can only smile. And we continue on the path of the Master of the Martyrs of the Nation, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who gave a lot for decades to establish this equation and bring victories. He was the leader of the great victory in July, and he sponsored the True Promise, and the great result we obtained came.”
Sheikh Qassem pointed out that “this Resistance is a defensive case. The wars were imposed on us and we are defending. We accept a ceasefire because we are defending, but the enemy wants war. However, we do not surrender even if the pains are great.”
Sheikh Qassem stressed that “the South must be the central issue today. The displaced must be secured, as must shelter, aid, and reconstruction of damages. And the state is responsible before any other party. It is true that we are taking on helping, cooperating, and exerting maximum effort, but the origin is that the state must do its duty, and this is what we will strive for.”
Sheikh Qassem addressed the great families, saying: “Any words we say cannot be an atom compared to what you have given in sacrifices and giving. We see you as great. You are the crown on our heads. We tell you that we will die for you and we will fight to the last drop of blood, and we are together in one trench.”
He said: “It is your right to be angry and to express it, but we ask you to store this anger and prepare to use it at the time when it is due to achieve your goals and demands.”
He added that “anger has a time, and it can explode. How does it explode? Let those who do not know how to work and try to work against the Resistance and the people of the Resistance bear responsibility.”
He pointed out that “responsibility falls on those who attack the Resistance, the people of the Resistance, Lebanon, the future of Lebanon, and the sovereignty of Lebanon.”
Sheikh Qassem addressed the honorable resistance fighters: “O crown of our heads, title of pride, example of devotion and sacrifice, and lights of liberation and independence. You are victorious in this world and the hereafter. And we are honored that we are together in the battle of liberation, pride, and human dignity.”
Sheikh Qassem thanked all those from parties, forces, and sects who contribute to all movements rejecting occupation, confronting aggression, and rejecting the agreement of humiliation and normalization. He praised the spirit of social solidarity, where “we all rally together to address the pains at the educational, social, housing, and economic levels.” He said this social solidarity is important in order to fill the gaps created by this authority due to its lack of serious and effective work in the positive direction.
Sheikh Qassem said: “We are indebted to our martyrs and our great ones who preceded us to the heights and paved the way for us for a better future. Our martyrs placed a trust on our necks. We will preserve it and we will continue upon it. Our martyrs are the honorable title at the level of Lebanon, the cause of Palestine, and at the level of the whole world, because they are a model of sacrifice and giving.”
Sheikh Qassem addressed the wounded: “May God bless you for this great sacrifice that you bore for this great march.”
He affirmed that “we will not abandon the prisoners. We will continue to demand, strive, and work for their release, God willing.” And he added: “God willing, we will have rounds of victory. And with all the pain we must endure, because we are standing. And our standing is a station among the stations of victory.”
In his remarks on the anniversary of the victory, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah said that the anniversary established an important historical milestone in the history of Lebanon and the region, and that the “True Promise” war was to confront the Israeli aggression that began under the pretext of the capture of two Israeli soldiers. The war began after all communications, all political relations, and all diplomacy failed to secure the release of Lebanese prisoners in the prisons of the Israeli occupation.
Sheikh Qassem said: “This operation was necessary to fulfill the pledge that we do not leave our prisoners in prison. So how could we change the equation without confrontation and pressure on the Israeli enemy, who only understands the language of force? This operation, in the known military sense, did not warrant launching a war for it. But it later became clear that the Israelis, in cooperation with the Americans, were preparing for a major war in September 2006.”
He noted that “this war ended with the defeat of the Israeli enemy, this arrogant enemy and those behind it, America, at the hands of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and all the honorable resistance fighters, within the framework of the triad of Army, People, and Resistance. And among the results of this operation was the release of prisoners and detainees held by the occupation.”
Sheikh Qassem said: “The enemy submitted to this Resistance, to this people, and to steadfast and confrontational Lebanon. Among the results is that deterrence remained in place against the Israeli enemy from 2006 to 2023. This is evidence of the importance of the Resistance. This is a model showing that the Resistance is capable of changing the equation. This is an existing, ongoing experience.”
Source: Al-Manar English Website