Hezbollah holds large-scale rally on Nasrallah's 2nd anniversary... Declaration of war against the U.S. and Israel

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Soo-jin = The Lebanese armed political faction Hezbollah held a large-scale rally in Lebanon on the 27th (local time) to mark the second anniversary of the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike, and declared a decisive battle against the United States and Israel.

The rally was held on this day with tens of thousands of people gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, where the Nasrallah Cemetery is located.

Some in the crowd chanted "Death to America, death to Israel."

Southern Beirut is Hezbollah's stronghold and is also the area most severely damaged by bombings during the armed conflict with Israel.

According to AFP, Hezbollah's leader, Secretary-General Naeem Kassem, said in a video speech released on this day, "Israel and its military tried to destroy resistance forces, consolidate Israel's occupation, and build settlements in Lebanon, but Hezbollah has proven that it failed to achieve its goals."

“All the pressure being exerted on Lebanon today is aimed at achieving what Israel has not been able to achieve in the past two years,” he said.

He also emphasized, “Considering the enormous sacrifices we have made so far, we can only move forward and cannot be defeated.”

Hezbollah joined Hamas after the Palestinian armed faction attacked Israel in October 2023, and Israel launched large-scale airstrikes in Lebanon in response. Nasrallah died in September 2024 during Israel's large-scale military operation, including an airstrike on the Hezbollah headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.

At the time, Israel's military operation inflicted a huge blow on Hezbollah, including killing many of its senior leaders, including Nasrallah, and in November of the same year, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.

However, after the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran this year, Hezbollah intervened in the war to support Iran, and they clashed again, and more than 4,300 people were killed in Lebanon due to Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.

Afterwards, under the mediation of the United States, a cease-fire agreement was signed between the Lebanese government and Israel in June, which includes the disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. However, Israel insists that it will maintain its current position without disarming Hezbollah, so implementation of the agreement is slow.

Kassem also emphasized on this day that Israel must take the lead in bringing peace to Lebanon, saying, "We are ready for dialogue and discussion, but first we must liberate the southern region and its residents must return."

Meanwhile, in his speech, he said that Hezbollah's available resources and donations are dedicated to providing housing facilities, recovery, and reconstruction for refugees who lost their homes due to Israeli air strikes, and that details of the housing project for residents will be announced soon.