‘Day of Arbaeen’- Nasrallah Reveals Hezbollah’s Main Targets, Denies Israel’s Allegations

August 25, 2024 Articles, Features, Videos
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech on Arbaeen Day. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah announced on Sunday that the group targeted the Israeli military intelligence base at Glilot, also known as the Aman Division, along with other sites.

This was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s military commander, Fouad Shukr, in a southern Beirut suburb, on July 30.

In a televised speech, Nasrallah detailed that Hezbollah had launched 340 Katyusha rockets and multiple drones at the selected targets. 

He emphasized that the targets were chosen based on specific criteria, including avoiding civilian sites and infrastructure, focusing on significant military targets deep inside Israel, and ensuring a connection to the assassination of Shukr.

Nasrallah stated that the operation, named ‘Day of Arbaeen’ to coincide with the Arbaeen of Imam Hussein, specifically targeted the Glilot military intelligence base, which houses Unit 8200 and is located 1,500 meters from the Tel Aviv border. 

This base was identified as the main target, along with several military sites and barracks in the Galilee and the Golan Heights.

He explained that the barrage of Katyusha rockets was intended to overwhelm Israel’s Iron Dome defense system for a few minutes, allowing the drones to reach their targets. 

According to Nasrallah, intelligence from Hezbollah suggests that several drones successfully hit their targets, although he claimed that Israel was concealing this information.

Nasrallah also disclosed that, for the first time, Hezbollah launched drones from the Bekaa region, and all the drones crossed the border safely towards their designated targets. He asserted that the full impact of Hezbollah’s operations would become clear in the coming days, despite Israeli attempts to keep it hidden.

Hezbollah’s leader dismissed Israeli claims of preemptive strikes thwarting the group’s attacks, stating that the Israeli bombings targeted “empty valleys” and that Israel lied about destroying Hezbollah’s strategic missiles, which he said had not yet been used. 

Nasrallah added that Hezbollah had previously relocated all precision and ballistic missiles from vulnerable areas, and he denied Israeli reports of strikes on missiles intended to target Tel Aviv.

He also mentioned that Israel detected Hezbollah’s movements half an hour before the operation, prompting it to launch its raids, but he insisted that Israel did not have the intelligence it claimed to have.

Nasrallah concluded that the operation was executed successfully despite challenging circumstances. 

He also addressed the delay in responding to Shukr’s assassination, explaining that Hezbollah had waited to allow for ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, while also using the delay to exhaust the enemy psychologically, materially, and economically.

Nasrallah noted that the delay also involved consultations on whether the entire “axis of resistance” would respond collectively or if individual groups would act separately. 

The decision was made for each group to respond individually, with further responses expected from Iran and Yemen following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which occurred just hours after Shukr’s death.

He emphasized that the response on Sunday was only a preliminary action, and Hezbollah would decide on further steps based on the outcome. 

However, Nasrallah suggested that Lebanon could experience a period of calm, as Israel had declared the day’s events concluded. Nonetheless, he warned that efforts to silence support for Gaza would fail, and Hezbollah would continue its support for the region.

Below are highlights from Nasrallah’s full speech. The highlights were communicated via the Resistance News Network Telegram channel and are published here in their original form. 

“Today is the Arbaeen (fortieth day since the martyrdom) of Imam Hussein on the 20th of Safar, which is a symbol of sacrifice, selflessness, rejection of injustice and submission, and the headline of the revolution until the Day of Judgment.

“We extend our thanks to the Iraqi government and the hospitable Iraqi people for what they provide and spend in order to serve the visitors (of the shrines).

“We draw attention to the presence of Palestine and Al-Quds on the road to Arbaeen, which indicates the presence of the event of Karbala in the Palestinian cause.

“We extend our condolences to the dear Lebanese people and to all the pillars of the Lebanese state on the passing of Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss, who was a symbol of resistance, integrity and patriotism.

“I address the audience of the resistance and its environment, that your patience and steadfastness have an impact in this world and the hereafter, God willing.

“I address my steadfast and firm fighter brothers on the ground as firm as mountains, with thanks for their patience, steadfastness, firmness, and sincerity.

“The enemy has reached this stage of escalation with Lebanon by targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing civilians and the great jihadist leader, Sayyed Fouad Shukr, and the resistance has announced its intention to respond to this aggression to stabilize the equation.

“The one who took matters in Lebanon and the front to this level of escalation is the Israeli enemy.

“We will call today’s operation the Day of Arbaeen operation.

“We were ready to respond since the first day of Sayyed Mohsen’s martyrdom, but as we said before, the response is part of the punishment, and we needed some time to study whether the Axis would respond as a whole or each front alone, and we waited to give the opportunity for negotiations because our goal is to stop the aggression on Gaza.

“It was decided that we would conduct our operation individually for reasons that would become apparent with time, and that each party in the Axis would decide when and how to respond.

“It is clear that the negotiations are long and Netanyahu has begun imposing new conditions on the resistance in Gaza. We waited until we gave the negotiations a chance because our goal from all this front and sacrifices is to stop the war on Gaza.

“We have set controls for the response, including that the response should not be civilian, knowing that we have the right to strike civilians or infrastructure, but rather that the target be military and related to the assassination operation, either an intelligence base or the air force, and that the target be very close to Tel Aviv.

“We chose the day of Arbaeen of Imam Hussein (AS) to carry out the operation this Sunday morning after the dawn prayer, following the necessary prayers and supplications by the fighters. The operation began at 5:15 AM.

“The main objective of the Katyusha rockets was to engage the Iron Dome system, while the other weapon was the drone weapon.

“In today’s operation, for the first time, we launched a drone from the Bekaa region, and despite the long distance, it crossed into the occupied Palestinian territories. All the drones launched from the Bekaa crossed the Lebanese-Palestinian border safely towards the specified targets.

“No launch platform was hit before the operation, and no drone launch sites were damaged either before or after the operation.

“The specific military targets were the Aman military intelligence base and Unit 8200 in Glilot, and the other target was the air defense base in Ein Shemer.

“Our data confirms that a significant number of drones reached these targets, but the enemy is concealing the facts. However, the coming days and nights will reveal the truth of what happened there.

“We identified a set of targets near Tel Aviv that meet our specifications, including the Glilot base, which is a central base for Israeli intelligence and houses Unit 8200.

“The Glilot base is located 110 km from the Lebanese border and only 1,500 meters from the Tel Aviv border, meaning it is on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

“We have placed the Ein Shemer base within our targeting range; it is 75 km from Lebanon and 40 km from Tel Aviv.

“We targeted sites and barracks to exhaust the Iron Dome and its interceptive missiles, allowing drones to reach their targets.

“The decision was made to target sites and bases with dozens of Katyusha rockets distributed across various locations.

“All we intended to launch in this operation was 300 rockets, but we launched 340 rockets, and the enemy did not thwart anything.

“The Zionist narrative about what happened is full of lies, reflecting the level of weakness in this entity.

“The enemy’s talk about bombing strategic and precise missiles that were prepared to target Tel Aviv is nothing but lies upon lies. However, in this operation, due to clear and precise vision, we chose not to use these weapons.

“None of the strategic and precision missiles were damaged.

“Many valleys that the enemy considers to contain ballistic missile platforms and installations that could be destroyed were evacuated some time ago by a decision from Commander Sayyed Shukr, and what was bombed were empty or already evacuated areas.

“Half an hour before the scheduled time of the operation, the Israeli forces began airstrikes in the south. They had no intelligence, but acted due to the movement of the fighters completing their mission.

“We are facing an Israeli intelligence failure and a failure in preemptive action, and our operation was completed precisely as planned.

“Today, we witnessed a scene that reflects the courage of the resistance when it made this decision.

“The resistance made a decision and acted, causing the enemy to close Tel Aviv and the airports and open shelters merely because we used Katyusha rockets and drones. What would happen if we used more than that?

“This is the first major operation conducted by the resistance in the absence of the great leader Sayyed Fouad, and there were no errors.

“In their response this morning, the enemy did not dare to target civilians because there is a resistance and a resistance environment, and this is the equation that we re-established today.

“The first phase was striking sites in the north with 340 rockets, and the second phase is the passage of drones of various types and sizes into the depths of the entity.

“We will follow up on the outcome of the enemy’s silence regarding what happened at the two targeted bases, especially in Glilot. If the result is satisfactory and achieves the intended goal, we will consider the response operation to be concluded. If the result is not sufficient, we reserve the right to respond until further notice.

“We will not abandon Gaza and its people, Palestine, and the sanctities of the nation in Palestine, no matter the circumstances, challenges, and sacrifices. 

Any hopes of silencing the support fronts are futile. What we started 11 months ago, we will continue, no matter the intimidations and sacrifices.

“Our operation today may be useful to the Palestinian side or the Arab side with regard to the negotiations, and the message to the enemy and the Americans behind it that any hopes of silencing the support fronts are disappointed hopes despite the sacrifices, especially on the Lebanese front.

“We are a people who cannot accept humiliation or bow our necks to anyone, and our oppressed blood will triumph over the sword. We fight with reason, weapons, drones, and ballistic missiles hidden for a day that may come.

“The enemy must understand and be very careful about the nature of Lebanon and the strategic changes. 

“Lebanon is no longer weak that you can occupy it with a musical band, but the day may come when we invade you with a musical band.”

(PC, AJA)

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