Qassem: Our right to defend and resist is legitimate
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has emphasized that the 2025 funeral ceremony of slain Hezbollah leaders Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine was “a pledge and renewal of the covenant to continue the resistance, a reclaiming of the initiative in rebuilding the resistance’s capabilities, and a reaffirmation of popular unity around it.”
In an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Ahed news portal marking the funeral’s first anniversary, Qassem pointed out that “its political significance is that the resistance continues -- leadership, fighters and people alike.”
He added: “This ideological, national, and selfless resistance cannot be defeated, no matter the blows, sacrifices, or conspiracies against it, for it was built on right and for the sake of right, and those who believe in the resistance are worthy of victory, whether through martyrdom or triumph.”
“I know that this is a difficult phase, but together we have overcome the challenges of perseverance, and we will patiently continue to address the demands of this phase as we did over the past 15 months. When the time comes for any stance, we will not hesitate. Our path is clear: the land is ours, and our right to defend and resist is legitimate. We will remain steadfast, preparing ourselves for both outcomes: victory or martyrdom,” Qassem went on to say.
23 February 2026, 16:37
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Any "Covenant" he claims is solely between him and his bathroom mirror' Lebanon is not a party to any agreement of the sort ... Lebanese are not bound in a covenant with anyone except their duly elected government. Qassem is not legitimate as a spokesperson, representative, commander (no less "Chief"), politician, or even an operator of a payloader. He is a figment of a media machine that needs a talking head who will obsess on how pretty his beard appears and how white his laundry detergent gets his amameh. He can claim no legitimate right to lead anyone outside his family, nor to defend any where beyond his front gate at the street, nor to better the lives of the dismayed who might be yearning for more than Hezbollah has managed to have taken away from hard working Lebanese.
