Qassem: “Israel” Our Single Enemy, Full Stop

On the fifth anniversary of the 2006 July Victory, the Deputy Secretary General of Hizbullah His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem said "On this anniversary, we must redirect our compass to the "Israeli" enemy to know that it is after many hidden issues related to problems, dissension, and internal movements aimed at disturbing Lebanon."

Sheikh Qassem, in an interview with "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper, stressed that "after the failure of the enemy to use the last paper that he expected to use in producing a solution to its situation a through the great aggression on July 2006, it has become clear that "Israel's" preparations were designed to eliminate Hizbullah and thus eliminating the resistance project, symbol, and project in Lebanon and the region."

Stressing that "Israel" is incapable of waging a new war, His Eminence told "as-Safir" that the Zionist entity is marred by problems on living conditions and economic hardships.

"Before the developments in the Arab region this year, the enemy was in a difficult situation and had not resolved its ability on a military confrontation with the Hizbullah," he clarified.

"Despite all the exercises conducted by the "Israeli" enemy which aimed at strengthening the internal civil front, it was unable to address the difference in the ability nor the capacity in development of July 2006, i.e. if we compare the enemy's capabilities and potentials in July to the resistance preparations during the same period, it is clear that Hizbullah is far beyond prepared and the enemy knows this well."

Emphasizing that the resistance was on the right track no matter how much Lebanon witnessed clashes among different political parties and no matter how critical the situation in the Arab world became, Qassem informed "as-Safir " that "we always stress Hizbullah's readiness because it is not linked to negative or positive political developments."

He assured that the developments in Syria will not affect Lebanon, which is characterized by the bond between the army, the people and the resistance. "I advise those who are betting that the changes in Syria will affect the resistance not to waste their time or wrongly mobilize their supporters."

When asked about President Michel Suleiman's invitation for national dialogue, Qassem said: "We support the dialogue to discuss the national defense strategy and we reject any preconditions and changes."

"Lebanon has a single enemy which is "Israel" and we should discuss the defense strategy to protect Lebanon in the appropriate way. Full stop," he said.

"It is time for all in Lebanon to put things on the right path by separating between two things: first, resolving the issue that our only enemy "Israel" and this requires being well prepared so that this enemy doesn't surprise us on one day. Second, that everyone moves to people's issues and domestic interests," His Eminence concluded.