Hezbollah keeps specter of war away from Lebanon, says senior official

Hezbollah has never been a tool used against the Lebanese people, says a top official, stressing that the resistance group keeps the specter of war away from the Mediterranean country.

“The capabilities of the resistance and the strength of the resistance have always been, since its inception, devoted to protecting Lebanon and defending the Lebanese, and it has never been a tool to intimidate the Lebanese or sabotage their ... life or civil peace,” said Vice President of the Executive Council of Hezbollah Sheikh Ali Damoush.

Sheikh Damoush said Hezbollah’s capabilities created deterrence against the enemy and prevented the invasion of Lebanon by Takfiri terrorists.

Hezbollah's strength "protects [Lebanon’s] stability and civil peace, prevents internal fighting and keeps the specter of civil war away from Lebanon,” he said.

The Hezbollah official dismissed allegations that the resistance movement is a source of anxiety and fear, saying that the group is rather a source of reassurance and stability as well as a source of resolving the country’s problems.

Hezbollah “contributes to alleviating the repercussions of crises that people are going through on the social, economic and living levels,” he said.

He further emphasized that Hezbollah does not want to be dragged into a civil war and will do everything it can to prevent a “dirty” war of such kind.

“Had it not been for the people of patience and insight, Lebanon today would have been inflamed and ablaze with the fire of haters and civil warlords,” he remarked.

The remarks came in light of a killing spree targeting Hezbollah supporters in Beirut last Thursday that killed at least seven people and injured dozens more.

The attack was conducted by the far-right Lebanese Forces (LF) political party, led by Samir Geagea, which Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah later censured as the “biggest threat” to Christians in Lebanon.

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Sheikh Damoush said Hezbollah is awaiting the result of the investigation into the incident, but will not go beyond what happened.

“We will not neglect the blood of the martyrs and the wounded who fell in this massacre,” he said, pledging to pursue the case until the murderers are exposed and held accountable within the framework of the law.

“And we will not remain silent if we feel that there is a dilution or politicization of this issue.”

The senior Hezbollah figure called on the government and its agencies to follow up on the case with utmost seriousness and not yield to external interference or sectarian pressures, “because this will encourage perpetrators to commit more crimes, and will contribute to Lebanon’s slide into something worse than the dangers it is facing.”

On Monday, in the midst of soaring tensions in Lebanon following last week’s attack, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has 100,000 well-trained fighters that were not trained to fight a civil war, but warning the LF and its leader not to miscalculate by mistaking Hezbollah’s patience as weakness.

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