Hezbollah leader says Biden pushing Israel to ceasefire and ‘historic defeat’ in Gaza War

Nasrallah: Israel ‘miscalculated’ attacking Iranian consulate in Syria, killing Zahedi

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The secretary-general of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, celebrated recent reports of an impending ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, saying it would bring about a “historic defeat” for Israel.

Speaking at a commemoration for Iranian general Mohammad Reza Zahedi and his six companions who were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria last week, he mocked Israel’s performance in the Gaza War and predicted its defeat.

Nasrallah said U.S. President Joe Biden pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a truce. “Biden’s recent phone conversation with Netanyahu confirms the responsibility of the U.S. administration for the Israeli war on Gaza.”

“The US could have stopped the Israeli war on Gaza, but it disregarded the genocide and moved only upon the Israeli killing of the foreign relief workers,” Nasrallah claimed.

According to the Hezbollah general, Biden also ordered the dismissal of the two IDF officers following the tragic killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers by Israeli troops.

He further called the recent withdrawal of IDF troops from Khan Younis a “defeat,” stating that “their forces were expelled from it humiliated.”

“The steadfastness and fight of the Palestinian resistance are behind the Israeli military withdrawal,” Nasrallah added.

He further mocked Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling him “detached from reality” and claiming that just hours after Gallant had said Hamas had been eliminated, “the Zionists suffered a defeat in Khan Younis.”

“Six months after the war on Gaza, the goals that were set have not been achieved, and Israel’s situation has worsened from every possible angle,” he said, referring to media reports suggesting that the Israeli public was dissatisfied with the achievements during the war.

As part of the latest hostage deal proposal, Israel would agree to a six-week truce, a gradual withdrawal of the last remaining troops in the Gaza Strip, and the release of around 900 prisoners – including 100 convicted murderers – in exchange for 40 Israeli hostages.

Nasrallah also spoke warmly of the recently-assassinated Zahedi, who Lebanese media reported was the only non-Lebanese member sitting on Hezbollah’s 8-member Shura Council, its leading body led by Nasrallah himself.

“Martyr Zahedi served the Islamic Resistance as an IRGC official in Lebanon and Syria for 14 years,” he said, adding that Zahedi had asked him to support Hamas by attacking Israeli targets on October 8th of last year, “in order to reach martyrdom.”

Speaking about the strike that killed Zahedi, Nasrallah noted: "What is new about this attack is that it targeted the Iranian consulate which is considered an Iranian territory.”

He stressed that the move was considered a direct attack against Iran, as Israel struck a diplomatic compound on what is considered Iranian soil.

“This made the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khamenei decide on a military response to the Israeli attack.”

Nasrallah added that following Israel’s miscalculation, the "Americans and Israelis recognize that the Iranian response to the attack on the Iranian consulate is coming."