This afternoon Beirut time Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech on the occasion of Hizbullah's Martyr's Day.
(Rough transcript from listening to the English translation of the speech by Press TV)
—Begin of speech—
In the first part Nasrallah explains why the date for Martyr Day was chosen. It goes back to a successful attack on the Israeli occupation troops in Beirut on November 11 1982. He goes on to explain the role and importance of martyrs and their relation with god. He congratulates the families of the martyrs. He also congratulates those who sacrifice for Gaza.
Nasrallah then turns to events in Gaza.
The first issue is the attack of Israel on civilians. The second is the resistance there.
He describes the crimes of Israel against helpless civilians in full view of the world. It is relentless revenge. But there is a second aspect in the word of Israeli politicians. They say that all of this killing has a goal. One is to force the people of Gaza and people of the region to surrender. To give up on resistance because the costs are too high. The other is to make them surrender all their rights. To make them hopeless. After Gaza and the West Bank they will aim at Lebanon.
Israel is mistaken. Its aims will not be achieved.
We know that they did not achieve their aims in Lebanon in the 1982 invasion and the 2006 war despite all their killing and destruction of homes. The Lebanese peoples' support for resistance only grew. Their choice was not to surrender but to increase their resistance.
That is also why we should resist normalization with Israel.
The Israeli brutality is increasing the resistance against it. There are also protest everywhere and it puts pressure on politicians to call for a ceasefire. This will limit the time for Israel's operation. The U.S. administration can stop the war. It must be pushed towards that.
Today there is a summit of 57 Arab and Islamic nations. The Palestinians are not asking the summit to fight a war against Israel. They ask it to put serious pressure on the U.S. to end the aggression against them.
We must draw attention to the resistance in Gaza. They demonstrate the weakness of the Israeli forces. The Israelis have many casualties, more than they admit. The Israelis can not show any victory or even a small success.
The West Bank is critical for the resistance. It can draw Israeli troops away from other fronts.
The Yemeni army has taken a decision to attack Israel. It has great significance. It is a great moral support for the resistance even if its missiles and drones do not always hit Eilat. The Yemenis did not listen to the U.S. threats against them. They have made south Israel less secure and pushed Israel to move air-defenses down south.
The Iraqi resistance is attacking U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria. Before October 7 those fronts were relatively calm. They were re-opened in solidarity with Gaza. Now they challenge U.S. forces. The U.S. sends threats to governments to suppress the resistance. The resistance says you can only end these attacks if you put pressure on Israel.
Syria, within the resistance axis, is taking a great burden. It is supporting the resistance and suffering repercussions for that. In Syria the U.S. is supporting ISIS against the Syrian troops.
Iran is another front of the resistance. Its limitless support for the resistance is not longer hidden. The strength of the resistance in the region is based on the firm stance of Iran. They spared no funds, weapons or training. Iran is not changing its stand. It does not decide for the resistance but will always support it.
Now to Lebanon. The resistance operations continue on a daily basis. Despite all the precautions the Israeli army takes it gets attacked by the resistance. There are every day brave martyr attacks on Israel.
Last week the resistance came to a new level. For the first time it used attack drones. We also used new missiles to target Israeli bases. They carry warheads of 300 to 500 kilogram of explosives. The operations carried out yesterday also get to deeper depths. Yesterday a Israeli medical official from one hospital in the north said that had receive some 300 casualties. The Israeli government does not admit that.
The resistance responds to every Israeli attack. We will not tolerate any attack on our civilians. We have reconnaissance drones over all of north Israel. Some came back, some are shot down. They draw away Israeli air defenses from other fronts.
We will continues with this. We will increase the quantity, quality and depths of our operations. The people in Lebanon support the resistance. This helps to be an effective influential front.
What happens on the battlefield is more important than my speech. Time is important for the resistance. It helps to grow until the enemy admits defeat.
When all the pressure comes together the enemy will have to settle. Netanyahoo is changing his aims on an hourly basis. It shows the pressure Israel is under. Its military failure on the ground and the protests are all pressing on it. The time for it is limited.
The resistance will achieve victory and Israel will not achieve its aims.
I ask you to pray for the martyr's and for our success. We pledge to continue on our paths. The finally victory will come – god willing.
Israel after October 7 is no longer what it was. Its strategic position and its security is diminished.
We must continue on our paths.
May you all be blessed.
— End of Nasrallah's speech —