Hajj Hassan: Hizbullah Defending Creeds, Existence of All Lebanese

Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan has stressed that Hizbullah “is not only defending itself and its supporters” in its participation in Syria's conflict but rather “all Lebanese and their creeds and existence.”

“Hizbullah's fighting in Syria is defensive and preemptive and it is part of its religious duty and responsibility in defense of creeds, principles, dignities and existence,” the Hizbullah minister announced during a Ashoura ceremony in the Bekaa town of Beit Shama.

Had it not been for Hizbullah's military intervention, “Lebanon would not have enjoyed relative peace and security and it would not have enjoyed the stability that we are witnessing compared to the neighboring countries,” Hajj Hassan added.

“The takfiris would have been staging bombings wherever they want and they would have been shelling our border areas,” he said.

“Had it not been for Hizbullah, the Syrian army, the Syrian state and their allies, the Islamic world would have been engulfed with darkness now,” the minister went on to say.

Hizbullah's intervention in the Syrian conflict alongside regime forces has helped Damascus achieve several military victories and allowed the party to clear most of the Lebanese-Syrian border region from rebels and jihadists.

Since 2013, the Lebanese, Iran-backed party has sent thousands of combatants -- between 5,000 and 6,000, according to the expert on Hizbullah Waddah Sharara -- to help the regime fight both rebels and jihadists. They send 2,000 fighters at a time in rotation, Sharara says.

Experts say Hizbullah has lost 1,000 to 2,000 fighters in the conflict, including senior commanders.