Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah did not attempt to downplay the setbacks inflicted on his organization by Israel, but he did dispute their strategic significance in a televised address on Thursday, September 19. In the aftermath of a series of explosions of the Lebanese Shiite party’s transmission equipment , which in two days left 37 people dead and almost 3,000 wounded – the majority of which were fighters and employees from its ranks, as well as civilians – Nasrallah recognized Hezbollah had suffered “a severe blow, unprecedented in the history of the resistance, Lebanon and the conflict with Israel,” in a speech broadcast live.
In response to this “massacre” and this crossing of “all red lines,” which could constitute a “declaration of war,” Nasrallah promised that Israel would receive “tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not. ” At the same time, Israeli fighter jets taunted Beirut residents, who were still reeling from the attacks, by crossing the sound barrier and a bombing campaign was launched in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, the most intense to be carried out by the Israeli army since fighting with Lebanon-based Hezbollah began in October 2023.
These intimidations and the threats of war made by Israeli officials to induce Hezbollah to cease its attacks on Israel, in support of the Gaza Strip, appeared to have no effect on the Shiite leader’s rhetoric. “Whatever the sacrifices, whatever the consequences, whatever may happen, we will not cease our support for Gaza, and Lebanon’s front with Israel will not stop until the aggression in Gaza is over,” Nasrallah vowed, presenting this support as the main form of resistance to Israel, which seeks to “separate the Lebanese front from that of Gaza.”
‘Galvanizes us even more’
After hailing the solidarity shown by the Lebanese toward the victims of Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s attacks, and praising the spirit of resistance of his supporters, Nasrallah gave a full account of the unprecedented lapse in security, with a mixture of self-criticism and justification. He was addressing his detractors as much as his supporters, whose confidence in the movement has been shaken. For political scientist and expert on Hezbollah Chiara Calabrese, “Hezbollah’s legitimacy has largely been built, within its base, on the belief that it is the only party capable of protecting it. Its responsibility is at stake. These attacks have left the impression that Israel , with its enormous technological advantage, can do anything without Hezbollah noticing it.”
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