Hassan Nasrallah: New Battlefronts Against ISIS Will Soon Be Opened

A few days after the deadly twin explosions in Shia areas of Beirut, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon announced the opening of "new fronts in the battle against ISIS" in the near future. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Thursday night attacks in Burj al-Barajneh in the "Dahiyeh" area south of Beirut, stating it was a response to Hezbollah's involvement in the internal battles in Syria. Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, stated in a speech aired on the organization's TV channel, Al-Manar, on Saturday night, November 14, that the perpetrators of the Beirut explosions have been arrested and that Hezbollah will be "very strong and firm" in the new fronts against ISIS, which he described as a commitment to the martyrs of Burj al-Barajneh. He did not mention any potential planning by Hezbollah and its main ally, Iran, for "new fronts in the war against ISIS." According to Nasrallah, "The lifespan of Takfiri groups is short; they have suffered heavy defeats and lost significant territories in Syria and Iraq; they are collapsing from within, and we hear news of it every day." In the twin suicide attack by ISIS militants in southern Beirut, 41 people were killed and over 180 were injured, causing extensive destruction in the business and residential areas. After the first explosion by the first suicide bomber in front of a bakery, when people gathered to help the injured, the second suicide bomber detonated his belt. Most Shia residents in southern Beirut are considered supporters of Hezbollah, and families of Hezbollah fighters live in these areas, where many Hezbollah offices and centers operate. The Thursday night explosions were the largest attack in Lebanon since the end of the country's civil wars. Hassan Nasrallah stated that one of the two attackers in Beirut is Syrian, and it is likely that the second suicide attacker is also Syrian, but investigations are still ongoing. The Secretary-General of Hezbollah also denied the arrest of two Palestinians among the suspects detained for aiding the ISIS suicide bombers in the Thursday night Beirut attacks. Nasrallah said, "The two arrested Palestinians have no connection to this terrorist operation," but he did not provide evidence for his statement. He added, "Some of the suicide bombers and elements of the Takfiri networks of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Al-Nusra Front may be Palestinian, Syrian, or Lebanese Sunnis, but we cannot generalize that to all Palestinians or all Syrians or all Sunnis in Lebanon... and no one has the right to attack Syrian and Palestinian refugees." Nasrallah also stated that the arrested individuals are "in the custody of the (Lebanese) security agencies and have confessed to their connections with ISIS and receiving orders and justifications from the leaders of this group." According to the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, if the Lebanese security forces do not act quickly to arrest those connected to the Beirut attacks, the likelihood of more deadly operations in Lebanon would have increased, and attacks similar to those planned in northern Lebanon have been prevented. Nasrallah stated, "To counter the new wave of explosions, we must go after the masterminds so that they do not send more terrorists." Hezbollah has sent hundreds of its fighters to Syria for over three years. In recent weeks, alongside the increase in Iranian military casualties on the Syrian battlefronts, more bodies of Hezbollah fighters have also been returned to Lebanon. Several Hezbollah commanders have been among the casualties in recent months in Syria. Some assessments claim that the number of Hezbollah fighters in Syria is about five thousand. Political forces among Lebanese nationalists have previously condemned Hezbollah's intervention in the Syrian civil war, stating that this action has also endangered Lebanon. However, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah argues that if his fighters were not in Syria, Lebanon would have been at risk of falling into the hands of the Islamic State group. According to Nasrallah, the ISIS attacks in Paris also show that "today we are facing a new style of terrorist operations in the world from Takfiri terrorist groups." Hezbollah has also condemned the attacks carried out by the Islamic State group in Paris; this condemnation from Hezbollah is considered rare. This comes as Hezbollah has always been accused of carrying out deadly terrorist operations in various parts of the world, including the bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina in 1994. The United States also accuses Hezbollah of the deadly bombing of the U.S. military headquarters in Lebanon in the early 1980s.