Worse for Wear in Syria, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah Sets Sights on ‘Liberating Al-Aqsa’

Weary from several frustrating years of an endless war against the Sunni rebels in Syria, and recovering from the recent loss of some of his top military leaders, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah obviously found comfort on Sunday in the carnage that had erupted in Israel this month.

By: JNI.Media

Speaking from the safety of his south Beirut bunker Sunday, following the death of the death of leading Hezbollah commander in Syria Hassan Hussein al-Hajj, Nasrallah said, “Our people feel safe because of [al-Hajj] and the Resistance together with the Lebanese army. I would like to assure everyone that the Resistance has had great leaders for many years.”

Al-Hajj was killed on October 10, fighting in northwest Syria where Hezbollah fighters have been supporting the beleaguered regime of Bashar Assad. Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that Hezbollah has lost well over a thousand fighters in Syria, and thousands of wounded fighters have returned to their families in Lebanon, unavailable for service for the time being. The international Arabic newspaper headquartered in London reported the growing casualties and the expansion of Hezbollah’s involvement in the fighting have led to a crisis in the organization, whose ranks have been dropping.

On Sunday, Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi declared that Hezbollah had been dealt a “major blow” in the latest political confrontation over promotions and appointments in the Lebanese army, which had been paralyzing the Lebanese cabinet for months. It appears that Nasrallah’s once feared group is losing its clout everywhere.

Aware of these thorny problems, Nasrallah on Sunday shifted his focus from the grim news in Syria and at home, to the “exciting” news from south of the border. He pointed out that two enemies of his Shiite group, the Zionists and the radical Sunni rebels in Syria, want to destroy “our peoples and our societies.”

“We will continue to battle the Zionist project in the region and we will continue to fight alongside the Palestinians,” Nasrallah vowed. “There will be no future for the Zionist entity in the presence of the axis of the Resistance.

Apparently rejoicing in the “martyrdom” of a growing number of Arabs in Israel and the PA, Nasrallah hailed what he sees as “an opportunity through a new generation in Palestine to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

“Whoever has talked of a Palestinian weariness, and said that the Palestinians are tired, now got a new generation, armed with a knife,” he continued. “Hezbollah will continue to stand by the Palestinian people and support the Intifada as best we can.”

Emphasis on “as best we can.”