Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech on Saturday evening that was primarily devoted to the maritime border agreement, in which he declared that there is a still a maritime area that has not yet been liberated, in other words, the conflict with Israel is not over, according to a report and translation by Abu Ali Express.
This is similar to Nasrallah’s claims following the Blue Line land border demarcation of Israel’s northern border with Lebanon that was recognized by the UN in the year 2000. At that time, Nasrallah listed areas that Lebanon/Hezbollah do not accept as being legitimately under Israeli control, including the Sheba farms, and therefore the conflict is still ongoing.
Nasrallah’s claim then was followed by Hezbollah initiating multiple border violations, kidnappings and terror attacks against Israel, ultimately leading to the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
The smiling Nasrallah explained how great the achievement is for Lebanon and clarified that it was achieved only thanks to the fact that Hezbollah was able to create a real threat in the war against Israel.
Nasrallah’s speech – not all of Lebanon’s maritime area has been liberated. (via Abu Ali Express) pic.twitter.com/fEUsxh6X2N
— JewishPress.com (@JewishPress) October 30, 2022
One central point of his speech that deserves full attention is when Nasrallah announced that there is still a Lebanese maritime area of 2.5 square kilometers that has not yet been liberated.
The main meaning arising from this statement by Nasrallah is that despite the signing of the border border agreement, the issue of the maritime border has not been decided, at least not from Nasrallah’s point of view. Therefore (unlike what Israel’s PM Yair Lapid or the US’s negotiator Amos Hochstein is claiming they achieved) the matter is still open to future conflict.
This concept is at the basis of Hezbollah’s justification for possessing weapons that are outside the control of the state (such as it is) of Lebanon .
Nasrallah claims this evening that thanks to Hezbollah’s weapons, Lebanon is achieving achievements, which weakens the calls in Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.
Nasrallah provided a statement this evening that is already echoing on social networks: “The missiles provide bread” – his justification for keeping the weapons in the hands of Hezbollah.
