BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that U.S. President Donald Trump must free himself from “the grip of Israel if he wants to achieve his goals.”
Sheikh Qassem made the remarks on the occasion of Resistance and Liberation Day on Sunday, where he also said that Trump should seize the opportunity and rid himself of the burden that is the Zionist regime.
“The U.S. is violating Lebanon’s national sovereignty and will not be able to impose the conditions of the occupation, no matter the cost in sacrifices and confrontations,” he stated.
Sheikh Qassem started his speech by saying that the resistance has evolved from a project into a permanent pillar of Lebanon following the expulsion of the Israeli occupation.
Resistance is the only option for liberation, he stated.
He said the resistance was born out of necessity to confront threats and is the natural support for the army.
The Hezbollah chief noted that the emergence of the resistance was a natural response from a proud people who reject humiliation, occupation, and surrender to the Israeli enemy.
“The resistance began to grow in the 1960s and 1970s, with Imam Sayyed Musa al-Sadr emerging as a leader of resistance through the establishment of the Movement of the Deprived,” he said.
“After the 1982 Israeli invasion, the occupation remained and sought to impose the humiliating May 17 Agreement in 1983. However, genuine resistance at the popular, clerical, and national levels, in cooperation with Syria, succeeded in preventing that agreement,” Sheikh Qassem said.
He stated that from 1985 to 2000, the southern border strip remained under Israeli occupation, and resistance became the core of the confrontation.
“Since 1978, despite international resolutions, Israel had not withdrawn, making continued resistance and sacrifice essential,” he stated.
Sheikh Qassem stated that Israel withdrew earlier than expected, on the night of May 24, 2000, without informing its collaborators. May 25 was declared Resistance and Liberation Day.
“May 25, 2000, was a major victory for the resistance and the people who broke Israel and forced its unconditional withdrawal from southern Lebanon,” he said.
He called the martyred secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, “the shining jewel who led the resistance to victory.”
“The credit for liberation goes first to God, then to Imam Sayyed Musa al-Sadr, and to the martyr resistance leaders Sheikh Ragheb Harb, Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi, and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” he stated. 
The resistance transformed Lebanon from weakness to strength and put an end to Israel’s expansionist ambitions, he noted.
He added that Resistance and Liberation Day laid the foundation for everything that followed.
“The resistance brought change in Palestine, put the enemy on the path to decline, and paved the way for all subsequent developments,” he said.
“This generous, proud people, who raise their children on dignity and stand up to the enemy, will succeed and achieve their goals,” he said.
Resistance is the choice of the people and the faithful, he said.