BEIRUT — Tens of thousands packed the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday as Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered a televised address marking two years since Israel assassinated Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his designated successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, declaring that the resistance movement remains unbroken and unbowed despite the heaviest terrorist aggression it has ever faced.
“Hezbollah has demonstrated that Israel and its soldiers were unable to achieve their goals to break the resistance, end its existence, consolidate the Israeli occupation and establish settlements in Lebanon,” Qassem told the crowd, his words broadcast across Lebanese and regional television networks.
The anniversary ceremony, held at the shrine of the martyred leader in Beirut’s southern suburbs, was both a memorial and a show of force — a public assertion that Hezbollah has survived two years of relentless Israeli bombardment, the assassination of its senior command, and an ongoing ground invasion that has killed more than 4,300 people.
Addressing Nasrallah directly in his speech, Qassem said the former leader had built “a strong and steadfast popular base for the resistance” and that his teachings continue to guide the movement.
“You became a symbol of resistance worldwide. Your teachings remain, and the path you built will continue, with Palestine and the liberation of our land remaining our priority,” Qassem said.
“Palestine will always remain our compass,” he declared, adding that Hezbollah will continue to champion Islamic unity and peaceful coexistence among Lebanon’s communities, even as it prioritizes the fight against Israeli occupation.
Qassem also paid tribute to Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, who was martyred in an Israeli strike just days after Nasrallah’s assassination in September 2024. He described Safieddine as “a strong supporter and aide” to Nasrallah and said his journey “was marked by jihad and service”.
The Hezbollah chief honored the “martyrs of the Mighty Warriors Battle,” including commanders Fouad Shukr, Ibrahim Aqil, Ali Karaki, and Suhail Husseini, as well as Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan and Sheikh Nabil Qawouk. 
He sent a special salute to the “living martyrs” — the thousands wounded in the pager explosion attacks — and paid tribute to the 3,400 martyrs and 14,600 wounded from the battle Hezbollah has named “Ala al-Ahd,” or “We Are on the Covenant”.
In a direct rebuttal to critics who question what the resistance has achieved, Qassem turned the question back on Lebanon’s government.
“Some — especially the enemy — ask what the resistance has done,” he said. “It seems they have forgotten to ask what the government has done.” 
Qassem stressed that the resistance has succeeded where the state failed: preventing Israel from achieving its war objectives. He said a massive force of up to 90,000 Israeli troops have been unable to defeat Hezbollah, consolidate occupation, or establish settlements on Lebanese soil.
“The resistance stopped the project of aggression; this is what the resistance did, and it did not allow the enemy to reach its goals,” he said.
He rejected the notion that Hezbollah is the cause of Lebanon’s wars. “The problem is the aggression, not the resistance,” he said. “Submitting to aggression to make it stop means surrender.” 
Qassem also used the platform to deliver a sharp critique of Lebanon’s seven rounds of direct negotiations with Israel, declaring that the talks have “produced nothing” and calling on the government to abandon the framework agreement.
“Direct negotiations with the enemy will bring nothing but defeat for Lebanon,” he said, adding that Lebanese political forces and the public have openly opposed the disgraceful framework agreement and demanded its abandonment.
“The authorities are helping the Israeli-U.S. project instead of confronting it,” he said.
While acknowledging that negotiations fall within the president’s legal powers, Qassem said any such process “should not conflict with Lebanon’s constitution, the Taif Agreement, national sovereignty or the country’s right to liberate its territory”.
The Hezbollah leader warned that submitting to Israeli demands would mean “the end of Lebanon’s coexistence in favor of Israeli settlements” and the realization of the “Greater Israel” project.
“With the great sacrifices that we have made up until now, we can only keep going, and we cannot be defeated,” Qassem vowed.
He declared that the movement’s operational strategy is not to hold territory at any cost, but to strike the enemy, prevent the entrenchment of occupation, and create conditions for the eventual liberation of all occupied land.
“The path of resistance continues, and we can’t submit to humiliation,” he said.
For Hezbollah, the second anniversary of Nasrallah’s martyrdom is a statement of survival. 
“We took up the banner with confidence and conviction,” Qassem said. “We remain on this Muhammadan, Alawi, and Mahdavi path. The path of Imam Khomeini, Imam Khamenei, and Imam Musa Sadr — the path of guardianship, resistance, and jihad.”