A high-ranking official with Lebanon’s Hezbollah says the popular resistance movement is in a state of war with Israel, calling on the Muslim world and Arab countries to do more for Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip than just supply them with food.
Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, made the statement in a ceremony in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday, as the Israeli regime’s brutal onslaught on Gaza has so far claimed more than 13,000 innocent lives.
‘Hezbollah is an integral part of the resistance in the region and is in a state of war with Israel,’ Sheikh Qassem said, adding: ‘Israel aims to terrorise Palestinians and force them to abandon the resistance by massacring the people in the Gaza Strip.’
Stressing that the Israeli regime seeks to crush the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, the Hezbollah official said: ‘The Arab and Islamic countries must contribute, even a little, to disturbing and hurting the occupation as providing supplies and food to the people of Gaza is not enough to exonerate them.’
Sheikh Qassem said there was information indicating that the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza are ‘able to withstand for a long period of time’, adding: ‘The resistance’s victory will be achieved through the occupation’s inability to achieve its goals.’
The Hezbollah official underlined: ‘As long as the aggression against the Gaza Strip continues, there exists the possibility of the persistence of war, and all possibilities depend on the developments on the ground.’
The deputy secretary general of Hezbollah also pointed to the recent operation carried out by the Yemeni Armed Forces south of the Red Sea, during which an Israeli ship was seized and its entire 52 crew members onboard were detained.
Sheikh Qassem hailed the operation as a ‘courageous act’ and stressed that it was ‘the beginning of a very big blow that will affect the Israeli economy.’
Hezbollah has reportedly fired more than 1,000 rockets, mortars, missiles, and drones at Israel since October 8, a day after the besieged Gaza Strip came under heavy shelling by the occupation regime.
In early November, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said all options were on the table against Israel, urging the Zionist regime to stop its aggression against Palestinians in Gaza immediately.
Iran’s highest-ranking military commander said on Tuesday that Israel’s killing of innocent people in the Gaza Strip does not translate into a victory for the occupying regime, noting that the ultimate triumph for the Palestinian nation is on the horizon.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri made the remarks during a tactical exercise by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force, in Kerman Province.
‘Today, the enemies are shedding the blood of children in Gaza and committing genocide.
‘However, the killing of innocent people will not be a sign of victory for the Zionists who were defeated in the unparalleled and surprise operation on October 7,’ he said, referring to Operation Al-Aqsa Storm conducted by the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement against the occupying entity.
‘Definitely, the victory of the Palestinian nation is near with the resilience of people and the power of resistance front fighters.’
Baqeri further said the continuation of Israeli atrocities will expose the true nature of the child-killing Zionist usurpers and that of their criminal American and hypocritical European supporters.
The enemies, he added, have shown their brutality in Palestine, where nothing will stop their crimes and oppression.
Israel waged the bloody war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas launched its successful operation in the occupied territories.
Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 13,300 Palestinians, including 5,600 children and 3,550 women, and injured more than 31,000 others in Gaza.
It has also imposed a ‘complete siege’ on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
The top Iranian general also said the Iranian Armed Forces will demonstrate their true power on the battlefield and will spare no efforts to ensure the country’s security.
‘If there is sustainable deterrence in our country, it is thanks to the presence, steadfastness and resilience of the armed personnel,’ he noted.
The deterrence was built on ‘the latest scientific and tactical achievements as well as up-to-date equipment on the edge of global technology, which were developed by the country’s scientists and youth.’
Units of the IRGC Ground Force, including artillery and rockets and rangers, are taking part in the tactical military drill in Kerman.
Baqeri observed the drill to evaluate the Iranian forces’ offensive, defensive and operational readiness.
Moreover, Baqeri emphasised that the power of the Iranian Armed Forces is today well-known and that the enemies are fully aware of it.
In Yemen, an official has stressed that the recent seizure of an Israeli ship in the Red Sea is just the start of a series of retaliatory naval operations in response to Israel’s brutal aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hezam al-Assad, a member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah resistance movement, said that the seizure of the Israeli ship by the Yemeni forces on Sunday ‘is just the beginning of upcoming naval operations that will target Israel’s naval vessels, battleships, or commercial ships.’
His remarks came as the Yemeni armed forces announced the seizure of an Israeli ship in the Red Sea and the detention of dozens of its crew members on Sunday.
Israeli media confirmed the regime’s ownership of the confiscated ship. The vessel goes by the name of ‘Galaxy Leader.’
Al-Assad stressed that Yemen’s involvement in the war in Gaza is ‘a pure Yemeni decision’, noting that some coordination is taking place with the axis of resistance.
The official stressed that ‘our naval forces are on a high alert and are monitoring the sea’, adding ‘each Israeli vessel, whether military or commercial, will be targeted as long as the people of Gaza are being bombed.’
He further announced that camps are being established in several parts of the country where volunteers who are interested in fighting as part of Operation al-Aqsa Storm will receive training.
‘We are ready to build a Yemeni army dedicated to participating in the defence of the people of Gaza. If the countries that have borders with Palestine allow us access, they will find thousands of people flocking to them.’
Al-Assad’s remarks echoed that of the Yemeni information minister in the National Salvation Government.
Deifullah al-Shami said on Sunday that all the Israeli ships at the Red Sea ‘would be legitimate targets’ for the Yemeni armed forces.
Al-Shami stressed that Sana’a has ‘information on all Israeli ships that pass through the Red Sea.’
Ansarullah spokesman Mohammed Abdul-Salam also said that Israel must stop its aggression on Gaza so the conflict does not spill over to other areas in the region.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working as crews on any ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag.
In a televised speech broadcast live on November 14, the leader of Ansarullah called on Arab countries and the Muslim world to adopt a clear stance in the face of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.
He said the Yemeni forces are keeping a watchful eye on any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, and in the Bab el-Mandab Strait in particular, as well as Yemeni territorial waters.
- A survey by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research and Development has found that 98 per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will not ‘forgive nor forget’ Israel’s onslaught on the besieged coastal enclave.
The poll also found that:
- 65 per cent perceived the war as targeting all Palestinians, while only 18 percent saw it as a war between Israel and Hamas.
- 75 per cent supported to some extent the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.
- Only 22 per cent expected a return of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to Gaza in the war’s aftermath.
• 68 per cent said their support for a two-state solution to the conflict has declined.
