Thursday 19, Sep 2024 {HMC} Usually before speeches from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is giving a televised address at 15:00 BST, I could manage to get some sense of what is expected from him through my sources.
But this time no one can predict what he may say.
The schedule for the speech was announced right after the first wave of pager explosions and before the second wave of blasts yesterday.
A high-ranking source close to Hezbollah tells me that part of the reason I’ve had no preview into the content of the speech is because this is still an active situation.
“But you can expect that his tone will be much [more] severe,” the source tells me.
“He definitely needs to reassure his people in different levels and layers of the group and Hezbollah supporters that things are under control.”
I spoke with several people close to Hezbollah and all of them acknowledged that Nasrallah’s job today is not easy. He needs to address hundreds of the group’s young members, many of whom will now be left with permanent damage from these explosions. Several have lost their eyes and hands.
Usually, such important speeches are broadcast in one of the Hezbollah venues in Dahieh, in the suburbs of Beirut, with hundreds of his supporters and the group’s high-ranking people gathered.
But today it will be only on TV. No gathering. The security concerns are high, not only in the areas controlled by Hezbollah but in other parts of Lebanon.
SOURCE BBC
