Nasrallah: We Won't Hesitate to Help Lebanese in Qusayr and We Pride Ourselves in Our Martyrs
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stated on Tuesday that he will not hesitate to help the Lebanese in Syria’s border town of al-Qusayr, assuring that the party prides itself in its martyrs.
In a televised interview tackling the latest Lebanese and regional developments, Nasrallah also denied claims that Hizbullah was behind the drone shot down by Israeli army on Thursday, doubting that the incidence even took place.
”We won't leave the Lebanese in Qusayr's countryside vulnerable to attacks and we will not hesitate to help them,” Nasrallah said explaining his party’s involvement in the Syrian conflict.
He continued: “I have already talked about the issue of Qusayr and said that 30,000 Lebanese Muslims and Christians were targeted, torched and prevented from going to work.”
“These people have the right to do everything to defend themselves and have the right to receive assistance and this is a moral and humanitarian thing.”
Nasrallah revealed that Lebanese nationals took part in the attacks on the Lebanese residents in the region, adding that “no party can claim being innocent" concerning involvement in the Syrian conflict.
“In Lebanon, fatwas, speeches and the sending of money, arms and fighters have not stopped since two years,” he remarked.
He also announced that Hizbullah fighters are defending holy places in the area: “Armed groups are only hundreds of meters away from the Sayyeda Zainab shrine and Takfirist groups launched clear threats on the Internet that they will destroy the shrine should they enter the area."
"We are not accusing the Sunnis at all. Our problem is with the Takfirist groups and everyone must stand in their face and prevent them from destroying the shrine," he said.
“Fighters that are falling martyrs are the ones preventing sectarian strife.”
“We pride ourselves in our martyrs, especially in those who fell in recent days, and we are holding public funerals,” Nasrallah expressed.
Addressing the Syrian opposition, the leader assured: “You will not manage to take Damascus or topple the regime as the battle is long.”
He noted: “Syria has real friends in the region and the world who will not let Syria fall in the hands of America, in the hands of Israel or in the hands of the Takfirist groups.”
The Hizbullah leader said the objective behind what's happening in Syria is “not only to remove the country from the axis of resistance, but to destroy the Syrian state, people, society and army in order to turn it into a failed state that cannot take decisions concerning its oil, gas and fortunes.”
“The conflict is between two camps,” he remarked.
“The first chose the approach of toppling the regime and resorted to the ugliest forms of combat, slaughter and beheading, all the way to seeking an international political and military intervention aimed at destroying Syria.”
Meanwhile, according to Nasrallah, “the second camp has been paying attention to the impact of the Syrian crisis on the entire region.”
“We are part of this camp,” he stated. “And we have been always calling for a political solution.”
Nasrallah said that whoever is seeking to rescue Syria must seek "political dialogue and a political settlement."
Tackling the drone shot down by Israeli air force on Thursday, Nasrallah said: “Hizbullah did not send such a drone and we have issued a communiqué about this due to the delicate situation.”
He elaborated: “The Israeli observers accused Hizbullah and this is an honor we won't claim, but according to our follow-up, no official accusation has been launched against Hizbullah, except for the one voiced in the very first moments by the deputy war minister.”
He said the reservations and the accusations are not a source of concern to the party: “Everyone knows that Hizbullah has the courage to take responsibility for any act it performs, especially if it's against the enemy.”
Nasrallah pointed out that Israel did not provide footage of the downing of the drone: “Until now we don't know whether they have found the wreckage or not.”
Nasrallah tackled several theories discussing the incident, among them that the drone could have been launched with the aim of drawing a direct response from the Israelis in order to push Lebanon into a confrontation with Israel.
“There is another hypothesis that Israel had sent the drone into Lebanon before flying it into its airspace,” he noted.
Nasrallah warned: “If anyone in the region believes that the resistance in Lebanon is going through a moment of weakness or unclarity due to the situations in Syria, Iraq or Palestine, then they are very mistaken.”
“I warn the enemy and its allies against committing any folly against Lebanon because the resistance is vigilant and its finger is on the trigger and it has the resolve to defend Lebanon and its people.”
Israeli air force said Thursday it shot down an unmanned aircraft several miles off the coast of the northern city of Haifa after it entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
Israel's deputy defense minister Danny Danon accused Hizbullah of sending the drone.
"We're talking about another attempt by Hizbullah to send an unmanned drone into Israeli territory," he said to the army radio.
However, the party responded with a communiqué denying the Israeli claims.
Source: Naharnet
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