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Nasrallah: We'll cease fire when IDF withdraws

In televised speech, Hizbullah secretary-general declares he accepts Security Council resolution; 'if a date to end hostile activities is agreed upon, we will implement decision,' he says. However, he stresses war has not ended: 'As long as there are Israeli soldiers on our soil we'll continue to fight them'

Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday accepted the UN Security Council resolution.

 

"If a date to end hostile activities is agreed upon, we will implement this decision," he said.

 

According to Nasrallah, "we stand before the reasonable consequences at the Security Council, which are a firm result of the Lebanese."

 

In a televised speech, Nasrallah said that "were it not for the steadfast standing of our brave fighters and out great and noble nation, we would have faced extremely bad diplomatic consequences today and our enemy would have been able to impose its diplomatic and security conditions and turn Lebanon into a state which would be a much more difficult state than in the 1983 ceasefire agreements."

  

 

Nasrallah stressed that the war has not ended.

 

"We must not let the enemy take out fighters by surprise. We have to be aware that the war has not ended for a few more days. Therefore we continue to fight also today and hold courageous battles. As long as there are Israeli soldiers on our soil we will continue to fight them."


Watching speech in Beirut (Photo: AP)

 

The Hizbullah leader referred to several aspects of the Security Council resolution.

 

"In a situation in which a schedule is reached on stopping the hostility activities, Hizbullah will stick to it without hesitation. I stress that the resistance is a reaction, and therefore if the Zionist operation stop – we will also stop our operations. Secondly, everything which will make it easier to return the refugees and rehabilitate Lebanon – we will be ready to cooperate with it.

 

"Thirdly, we have already said in the past that we agree to the deployment of the Lebanese army along with UNIFIL forces in the south. We will cooperate with that.

 

"Fourthly, while everyone is talking about stopping the hostility activities, it seems that the Zionist enemy understands it is being allowed to complete the ground operation. Therefore it is our right to kill the soldiers in the field and defend our land and ourselves. As long as Israel occupies and is aggressive, we will realize the resistance as we see fit."

 

This means that if Israel stops the fighting in Lebanon, Hizbullah will stop firing rockets at Israel but will continue hurting IDF soldiers as long as they are in Lebanon.

 

According to Nasrallah, there are clauses in the ceasefire agreement which are unfair, "but I am not going to reject them now. The problem in the Security Council's decision is that it does not include an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of IDF forces.

 

"There are unjust aspects, including casting the responsibility for the crisis on Hizbullah, as well as other clauses that our organization disagrees with. However, these disagreements will not thwart the ceasefire. We will reject these disagreements in order to see in the next few days what are the enemy's real intentions and if it is in favor of a ceasefire. There are other aspects we will deal with in the political frameworks in Lebanon."

 

At the end of his speech, Nasrallah explained that Israel was going on with the fighting due to its internal political problems and the tension inside the Israel Defense Forces.

 

According to the Hizbullah leader, "the enemy is continuing with this due to its internal problems and the way the Israeli army, which wants accomplishments, looks.

 

"The enemy will try and reach a certain point at the Litani in order to tell its people and the world that it has succeeded in its mission, but I stress that the resistance will be firm and strong and will exact a heavy toll, like it did yesterday and today. We are headed toward the end of the war, from which Lebanon will emerge a winner and strong."

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.12.06, 18:04
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