Beirut, Oct. 8, (dpa/GNA) – A senior official in Lebanon’s Shiite militia Hezbollah has vowed unqualified support to Palestinians and said the movement is “not neutral” in the current escalation between Palestinians and Israel.
Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli-occupied territory from the north on Sunday morning, according to the Israeli army.
“We are with you, and our hearts, souls, missiles, and rifles are with you, because we are the resistance that originally existed for the sake of Palestine and the al-Aqsa [mosque],” Hashem Saffieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council, said in a speech at a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“We are fully prepared and ready when needed,” Saffieddine, who is the cousin of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, added as the crowd waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags and chanted, “Death to Israel. Death to America.”
In a show of support, some people in the crowd held pretend flight tickets to show their intentions to join Hamas in the fight against Israel.
Hezbollah, which is closely allied with Iran, has been designated a terrorist organization by the US, Germany, UK, Israel and the Arab League.
The group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s rocket fire, which was also confirmed by the United Nations Observer Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). At noon on Sunday, there was a second round of shelling from Lebanon. Israel retaliated by shelling the areas from which the rockets were fired.
GNA