Lebanon · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Sheikh Naim Qassem Says Israel Failed To Break Hezbollah Resistance At Hassan Nasrallah Mausoleum
Israel failed to break Hezbollah's resistance at Nasrallah anniversary ceremony. Hezbollah will continue resistance, with Palestine as top priority.
Whether Israel failed operationally or resistance is chiefly steadfast.
8 of 9 outlets skipped it: hezbollah will contribute to housing thousands of displaced people.
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Same story, two versions
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Naharnet
“Israel and its soldiers ‘were unable to achieve their goals to break the resistance, end its existence, consolidate the Israeli occupation and establish settlements in Lebanon’”Read the original ↗
PressTV
“the resistance remained steadfast and committed to the cause of Palestine and the liberation of occupied lands.”Read the original ↗
Naharnet stresses operational failure of Israel; PressTV highlights steadfastness and Palestinian liberation focus.
Qassem rejects Israeli aims
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem told a Sunday crowd in and around Hassan Nasrallah’s mausoleum that Israel had not managed to “break” the group’s resistance during a speech commemorating the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. Qassem said, “They did not manage to achieve their objectives, to break the resistance and put an end to its existence, to legitimize the Israeli occupation and establish settlements” in southern Lebanon. The speech came after Israel killed Nasrallah in a September 2024 Israeli strike on the southern suburb of Beirut, and the same account said Hezbollah had come out weakened from two wars with Israel.
The AFP-linked report said Israel responded to Hezbollah’s support for Gaza and Iran with intense bombardments in Lebanon, including occupying part of the south, and it said those hostilities in 2026 killed more than 4,300 people, according to Beirut. The report added that Lebanon drafted a plan to disarm Hezbollah under international pressure, particularly from the United States, but Hezbollah opposes it and rejects negotiations started between Israel and Lebanon to end decades of conflict.
Disarmament standoff and dialogue
Qassem said the pressure on Lebanon aims to accomplish what Israel failed to do in two years, and he said “they want the army to disarm Hezbollah,” judging that the Lebanese military institution would not go into confrontation with his party because it is a “national army.” Qassem said he was ready for “dialogue” with the Lebanese authorities about disarmament, but he added, “But let them clear the south first, and let the residents return there,” as the speech framed the conditions for any process. The Reuters dateline said Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem announced that Hezbollah would contribute soon to a project aimed at housing thousands of people displaced due to the war with Israel.
Reuters also said Qassem argued that the Lebanese state should have taken responsibility regarding sheltering and compensating the displaced, adding, “It is still their duty to fulfil their responsibility regarding shelter, compensation, and all obligations related to reconstruction and restoration,” he said. The Reuters account said more than 340,000 people remained displaced because their towns were destroyed or fall within areas occupied by the Israeli military, and it said that since March 2 Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, including more than 250 children, and wounded another 12,000, including 1,000 children.
Shelter, protests, and accountability
Lebanese families whose homes were destroyed demanded emergency shelter, compensation, and rebuilding that would allow them to return to their villages, while an Israeli report from the Alma Center described the protests as a movement exploited by Hezbollah to channel victims’ suffering and anger toward the Lebanese government. The Alma Center report prepared by Dana Polak said protesters sought rebuilding homes and infrastructure, resuming work of public institutions, along with compensation and housing allowances, and it said the report acknowledged residents’ real suffering while arguing that the rhetoric placed responsibility on the state and its institutions without directing a similar critique at Hezbollah. The report said that on September 15 the Committee of the Residents of Occupied and Affected Villages organized a demonstration at the headquarters of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council on the airport road in Beirut, and it said the invitation included an explicit critique of the Lebanese authorities.
“It is my right that my homeland provides me a roof over my head.”
The report said that in Tyre protesters carried a banner reading, “It is my right that my homeland provides me a roof over my head,” and it said that in Sihmar the call for reconstruction and compensation was accompanied by the presence of Hezbollah and Amal Movement figures. Hezbollah’s leadership also used the anniversary platform to promise shelter, repairs, and reconstruction through its own resources and donations, with Qassem saying, “I announce to you that we are committed to providing shelter, repairs, and reconstruction through our own resources and donations.”