Hezbollah defending southern Lebanon against Israeli aggression: Nasrallah

The secretary general of Hezbollah says fighters from the Lebanese resistance movement have defended the southern sector of Lebanon against Israel’s acts of aggression.

Addressing an election campaign ceremony via a televised speech broadcast live from the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday evening, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah described the city, located about 80 kilometers south of the capital Beirut, as one of the basic strongholds of the anti-Israel resistance front.

He added that the Israeli military launched the 1996 aggression against Lebanon by striking the military command of Hezbollah.

“The Zionist air raid at the time failed to target late Hezbollah military commander Mustafa Badreddine,” Nasrallah pointed out.

The Hezbollah chief further noted that Israel’s aggressive policies towards Lebanon started just a year after its creation in the occupied Palestinian territories in 1948, dismissing allegations that Tel Aviv’s hostilities began after the formation of Palestinian resistance movements.

“In 1960s, [prominent Shia cleric] Imam Musa al-Sadr used to ask the Lebanese government to defend southern cities and towns against Israeli aggressions. His pleas, however, went unanswered as authorities did not take any actions,” Nasrallah underlined.

He added, “Because of the government’s apathy, Imam Musa al-Sadr established a popular resistance movement in southern Lebanon to confront the Zionist enemy.”

Nasrallah went on to say that the Beirut government failed to support southern Lebanese cities following the withdrawal of Israeli military forces in 2000, hailing Hezbollah’s capabilities in securing southern Lebanon against Israel’s barbarism.

He also urged his supporters to vote for Hezbollah and Amal Movement candidates in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, which are slated for May 6.

He then called on the Future Movement party, led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, to enumerate its achievements concerning Lebanon’s economy.

The Hezbollah head emphasized that Lebanese public institutions were plagued with corruption, demanding that a vigorous campaign confront the menace.

“All national sectors in Lebanon suffer from sectarianism. Some Lebanese leaders have resorted to sectarians as a way to attain their political goals irrespective of the country’s national interests,” Nasrallah concluded.