The people of Southern Lebanon resorted to the resistance due to the Lebanese state abandoning the region when the Israeli occupation was seeking to occupy it, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday during an electoral rally in southern Lebanon.

Polling centers, Sayyed Nasrallah said, conducted polls and the majority of the respondents said they were concerned about their living situation, not the armament situation of the resistance. "I want the Lebanese people to know that those calling for the disarmament of the resistance have no knowledge of what the south went through since the establishment of the Zionist entity."

"The oppressive entity declared its establishment during this time [decades ago], and a month later, it committed a massacre in the [Lebanese] village Houla and forcefully displaced the residents of many villages in the south," Sayyed Nasrallah underlined.

He also said that despite its actions, some Lebanese politicians do not view the Israeli occupation as an enemy that has ambitions on Lebanese territories and Lebanon's natural gas and water.

"Since 1948, the South has not been among the state's priorities, and this is part of the systemic neglect in Lebanon [...] Imam Moussa Al-Sadr resorted to resistance after the Lebanese state abandoned the south," he added.

"I tell some of you [who seek to disarm the resistance]: your attempts at doing so are feeble," Sayyed Nasrallah underlined.

Sayyed Nasrallah also outlined how Imam Al-Sadr spoke early on about erasing the Israeli occupation from existence and even before the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which constitutes a rebuttal of the narrative that the hostility toward "Israel" is linked to Iran rather than to the occupation's actions. 

"The existence of Israel contradicts humanitarian march," he cited Imam Al-Sadr as saying. "The Imam once said living without Al-Quds is death and humiliation, and the Muslims and Christians abandoning Al-Quds is them abandoning their religion."

"The South, Imam Al-Sadr said, is spearheading the campaign against the Israeli occupation and a necessity for the liberation of the holy land," he stressed.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah: "I want the #Lebanese people to know that whoever calls for the disarmament of the resistance is ignorant of what southern #Lebanon has experienced since the establishment of the Israeli occupation."#LebanonElections2022 https://t.co/Q485BMApeM

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 9, 2022

Final nail in the coffin 

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The biggest accomplishment in the history of Lebanon is the liberation of the South and the Western Bekaa, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah asserted. "The resistance liberated the prisoners, and they came back to Lebanon with pride."

In a note to the pivotal role of the resistance in the region, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the resistance "hammered the final nail in the project of [establishing] a greater Israel."

He also highlighted the role of the resistance in terms of morale, saying it was able to curb sectarian strife and replenished the morale of the Arab people and their confidence in achieving victory.

"In all honesty... the resistance is protecting the Lebanese south [...] since August 16, 2006, all of the villages in south Lebanon enjoy security, pride, sovereignty, and vigor thanks to the resistance," Hezbollah's chief underlined.

Delving into the anti-resistance sentiment, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that "since 2006, we have been putting defensive strategies on the table, and, despite that, all we hear is 'hand over your weapons'. I put defensive strategies on the table in 2006, and, so far, they have gone unanswered."

Those calling for the disarmament of the resistance want the latter to hand over its arms to the Lebanese Army, and, in response, Sayyed Nasrallah asked: "Is the Lebanese Army capable of taking on the responsibility of safeguarding the South, confronting Israel, and protecting Lebanon? Who in Lebanon is capable of making the political decision of shelling Israeli settlements in the case of Israeli hostilities?"

A golden opportunity

Regarding the issue of drilling for oil and natural gas in the disputed territorial Lebanese waters, Sayyed Nasrallah accused the opponents of the resistance of "wanting Lebanon to surrender its biggest power in drilling for its oil and [natural] gas."

"Lebanon, today, is highly in need of extracting the resource from its waters, which are worth hundreds of billions... so why are they not being extracted?" Sayyed Nasrallah asked.

"You have a resistance that can tell the enemy 'if you prevent Lebanon from drilling for energy [supplies], we will prevent you [from drilling for resources],' and no company will be able to start operating in the Karish gas field."

"Those demanding the disarmament of the resistance are doing so to sell their stance to the United States [...] the Americans will ask those calling for the disarmament of the resistance to recognize 'Israel' and grant citizenships to the Palestinians," he outlined, asking, "So, will you grant them Lebanese citizenship?" 

"The incitement against the resistance that we saw during the electoral campaigns could be described as a 'political July [2006] war'. You were victorious in the July war, and the resistance remained... and today, we are telling you: you must reign victorious in the political July war," the senior resistance leader said, addressing the supporters of the resistance.

If there is hope for finding a solution to the crisis in Lebanon, it is because of the resistance that will protect the extraction of oil and natural gas, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed. "The resistance is a cultural heritage and a manifestation of 47 years of pain, struggle, and martyrdom."

"This resistance is the resistance of Imam Moussa Al-Sadr, Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Sheikh Mohammad Shamseddine, and the Lebanese people," he underscored and called on those who want to safeguard Lebanon, protect it, and extract gas to vote for the resistance and its allies.

"As we said on Al-Quds day, from 7 PM, we called on the resistance to mobilize and be prepared to confront the enemy," Sayyed Nasrallah revealed, as the Israeli occupation forces conduct the largest drills in their history on the Palestinian land.