BAGHDAD (Dispatches) --
Resistance groups on Saturday rallied behind Hezbollah after the movement retaliated Israeli shelling and airstrikes on southern Lebanon with a rocket barrage on Friday.
Iraqi anti-terror Kata’ib Hezbollah and Nujaba resistance groups, which are part of Hashd al-Sha’abi, reaffirmed their support for Hezbollah, and declared their readiness to stand by it in any case of a possible confrontation with the occupying Israeli regime.
Kata’ib Hezbollah congratulated the Lebanese resistance movement on its “firm response to the recent Zionist regime’s attacks, as well as its violation of international resolutions and Lebanese sovereignty by targeting areas in the southern part of the country.”
Hezbollah has proven that it is “fully prepared to confront any adventurism that the Zionist enemy might get involved in,” it said, praising “the steadfastness of Lebanese nation in the face of attempts by the Zionist-U.S.-Saudi coalition to drag Lebanon into malicious chaos and vanquish resistance forces.”
Kata’ib Hezbollah also called on Muslim nations, Iraqis and Syrians in particular, to reciprocate the favor of the Lebanese people “who sacrificed their precious lives to defend the security and sanctities of Muslim countries, and to confront the Takfiri gangs backed by the axis of evil.”
The Nujaba movement, for its part, declared its full readiness to “enter into the deterrence equation” announced by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
“Hezbollah’s calculated response proves that the occupying regime’s policies and aggressions will come to an end,” it said in a statement.
The movement said its “resistance fighters have their finger on the trigger and ready to respond. They are present in every field.”
Iraqi Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada resistance group, led by Abu Ala al-Walai, also lauded Hezbollah’s response, wishing it had a role in the retaliation.
“We wish we were involved as well. We thank you on behalf of all honorable people and combatants. You are bringing dignity, whilst Arab rulers want to destroy it,” it said in a statement.
The group called on Hezbollah to continue striking the occupying Israeli regime.
Separately, a member of the political bureau of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq resistance group, praised Hezbollah’s retaliatory attacks.
“Congratulations to our honorable comrades in Hezbollah, who hit Zionist positions with a barrage of rockets. These rockets are a source of pride for all freedom-loving and honorable people across the world, but a source of shame and disgrace for the Zionists and their servants, traitors and mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” Hassan Salem stated.
The rockets, he said, sent a fairly clear message that the Axis of Resistance is able to wipe Israel off the world map in case the regime thinks of a stupid adventure and commits a folly.
Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement also hailed Hezbollah over its “legitimate retaliatory attacks”.
“We felicitate the Lebanese nation, army and resistance group on the historic victory of July 2006, which inflicted a heavy defeat on the Zionist enemy. The recent Zionist attacks prove that the defeat of 2006 is still a deterrent to the Zionist enemy, and the regime is afraid of a greater loss,” the political bureau of Ansarullah said in a statement.
“Sincere greetings from the revolutionary Yemeni nation, which is facing America’s aggression on an Islamic resistance bloc that humiliated Israel,” it noted.
Chairman of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi, praised Hezbollah and its leadership.
“The retaliation was the result of constant preparedness. The fruit of readiness is represented by real deterrence, shattering the enemy’s illusions, creating field and military realities, and exposing [the enemy’s] schemes,” Houthi said.
Hezbollah deputy head Sheikh Naim Qassem said any Israeli act of aggression against Lebanon will be met with a strong response from the resistance movement.
“Hezbollah has publicly committed itself to the principle that any attack on the Lebanese territory would draw an appropriate response,” he said.
“Israel must understand that Lebanon is not an open arena for settling accounts and testing its capabilities,” he noted.
Sheikh Qassem described Lebanon as a protected area, saying, “Israel must remain deterred; otherwise we are ready to respond.”
He noted that “the whole world witnessed” Hezbollah’s response to Israel’s aggression, saying, “We cannot remain silent about it.”
Sheikh Qassem also underlined Hezbollah’s constant preparedness to face any act of aggression by the Zionist regime.
Hezbollah announced in a statement that its units hit “open fields” near Israeli positions on Friday, using “dozens” of 122mm caliber rockets.
Al-Mayadeen television network said at least 20 rockets were fired at the occupying regime’s military positions. Al-Manar TV said a number of the rockets targeted the Douf military base.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hailed Hezbollah’s retaliatory rocket attacks.
“What happened today and yesterday confirms that the enemy (Israel) only understands the language of resistance and unity,” he said in a statement.
Berri stressed that “the obvious position and swift national response to what happened and is unfolding must be that the state officials take a sincere patriotic measure away from personal interests and hateful sectarian quotas, and shut the door on vacuum in state institutions.”
He noted that the Zionist regime would launch further acts of aggression against Lebanon and its southern parts in case the current political crisis in the Arab country persists.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that people in the occupied territories, just like leaders of the regime, do not want a war.
“Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett had previously said that Hezbollah rocket fire was a pretext for war. We do not want to start a war, but we should not bury our heads in the sand,” an unnamed political expert told Israel’s Channel 12 television channel.
Israeli media outlets had previously said intelligence assessments in the army indicated that Hezbollah would not respond to Israeli airstrikes.
The assessments, however, turned out to be wrong and Hezbollah’s rocket retaliation stunned Israeli leaders, according to political observers.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab urged the United Nations to exert pressure on the Zionist regime to stop its repeated violations of the Arab nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Diab said Israel’s attacks against Lebanon constitute a clear violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day-long Israeli military onslaught on the country in the summer of 2006, Al-Mayadeen TV reported.
Lebanon is going to file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council with regard to the Israeli regime’s attacks in southern Lebanon.
Diab asked Foreign Minister Zina Aker to “lodge an urgent complaint to the Security Council, regarding the Israeli aggression against Lebanon,” according to a government’s statement.
The statement quoted Diab as saying “the Israeli enemy, with its artillery first and its warplanes second, carried out an explicit aggression against Lebanese sovereignty.”