Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced on Tuesday that Lebanon is before decisive hours with regards to the maritime demarcation deal, saying Hezbollah will await the official stances by the Lebanese President General Michel Aoun.
“Only after the agreement is signed we can say that we have a deal,” Sayyed Nasrallah said in a televised speech delivered during the celebration that was held this evening on the occasion of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday (PBUH) along with his grandson Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq (PBUH) and the Islamic Unity Week.
Lebanon received the updated proposal by US Energy Envoy Amos Hocshtein on an impending deal on the maritime dispute with the Zionist entity. The Lebanese Presidency Press Office announced on Tuesday that Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab handed over President Michel Aoun the proposal finalized by Hochstein.
“With regard to the demarcation file, we are before decisive hours, and we, as Lebanese, are waiting for the official stance to be announced by the President,” Hezbollah leader announced, adding “We will await the official stances and only after the agreement is signed we can say that we have a deal.”
Sayyed Nasrallah said ‘Israel’ is sharply divided on the deal, even within the “same parties and ministers in the government,” and that not all Israeli sides are satisfied with the agreement. “We are waiting for the official position of the enemy’s government and what’s important is what will happen tomorrow in the meeting of the Israeli cabinet. We all witnessed the contradictory statements in the Zionist entity over the past months and there is a rift there.”
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday that a “historic agreement” has been reached on the maritime dispute. He called a Security Cabinet meeting, followed by a general cabinet meeting for Wednesday to approve the deal, and that the deal is expected to be submitted to the Knesset for review.
“The moment the Lebanese see the delegations going to Naqoura on TV, we must remain cautious,” his eminence warned, “When the Lebanese side announces the approval of the deal, then we consider that things are done and until then we must remain vigilant.”
Sayyed Nasrallah called for attentiveness as there are those who can change their minds at every moment. He described the negotiations as difficult, “Reaching a deal was not an easy task.”
Bou Saab, Lebanon’s lead negotiator in the issue of maritime deal, said: “For Lebanon, the maritime deal has been finalized,” noting that the US mediator is waiting for the official response by Lebanon. He stressed, in remarks carried by Al-Manar, that Lebanon will have a united stance towards Hochstein’s updated proposal, noting that “no modifications have been made so far on the updated proposal.”
Hezbollah’s leader pointed that Hezbollah only cares about the extraction of oil and gas from Lebanese waters and its stance on demarcation is known. “Since the very beginning we said we stand behind the state on the issue of Lebanese demands, and I always said we want to ‘eat grapes’ and extract oil,” Hezbollah’s S.G. said.
“We have no problem when the Lebanese officials say that the agreement meets the Lebanese demands. My call is that after publishing the final text, this understanding should be approached in the spirit of national responsibility required to judge it positively or negatively away from settling accounts,” Sayyed Nasrallah indicated, hailing the cooperation spirit witnessed in Lebanon. “We are before a new experience of cooperation between state officials that was met with popular support. Lebanon will be able to achieve this great accomplishment at time when no one is concerned about its rights.”
“Where is our sea? I tell you: To us, our sea extends to Gaza, and when Palestine is liberated, we will not disagree with our Palestinian brothers on maritime borders demarcation,” his eminence said.
Sayyed Nasrallah said Hezbollah had no need to send more drones than the ones previously sent toward the Karish field on July 5, as “the objective was for the enemy to understand that we are serious.”
In this context, the Hezbollah leader hailed the resistance fighters “whose sacrifices and efforts exerted for years bore fruit within few months,” stressing that the resistance will maintain its readiness until the agreement is signed. “To resistance fighters I say: You’ll remain on your readiness, vigilance and measures until we see with our very eyes that the deal is signed, and after that is another day,” Sayyed Nasrallah said.
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that “this is a national wealth that is not owned by a particular sect, political party or region; it belongs to the entire Lebanese people, so it must be approached with a spirit of responsibility,” and continued, “I promise you to cooperate with all the pillars of the state.” “We must benefit from the experiences of the countries that have sovereign funds,” his eminence said, adding “we must all immunize the funds that will come from the gas resources.”
Hezbollah S.G. ended up the issue of maritime borders demarcation deal by saying: Tonight, we will not issue threats. Tonight, there will only be joy and clapping.
On the internal Lebanese issue, Sayyed Nasrallah said: “On the presidential file, I have nothing new to add regarding the issue of the presidency and we call for the formation of a government.” He regretted that officials are “blowing hot and cold”” in this regard, oscillating between optimism and stagnation in the negotiations.
As for Yemen, the Hezbollah leader praised Yemenis for the huge celebrations held across the various provinces that had been plagued by eight years of war. “This people, who suffered from an eight years war and suffers from many life crises, is gathering in a scene like no other, we bow in respect.”
Turning to the Palestinian cause, Sayyed Nasrallah hailed the latest resistance might in the West Bank, saying: “What’s going on in the West Bank is percussive to the Zionist entity and all its political forces. The resistance today in West Bank needs all ways of political, media and popular solidarity. The resistance in West Bank is able to change equations, hopes are pinned on it.”
West Bank cities have witnessed a significant escalation of resistance operations lately, especially in Jenin and Nablus, at the level of shooting at the Occupation army’s checkpoints and settlers and throwing explosive and incendiary devices, in response to the Israeli crimes in occupied territories.
Sayyed Nasrallah also lauded Hamas’ decision on strengthening the relations with Syria as a courageous, wise and sound decision.
To sum up, following are the top stances Sayyed Nasrallah stated in his speech (Infographic image prepared by Al-Manar Website’s team):
Source: Al-Manar English Website
