Hezbollah: Israel will not be able to break Palestinians

Pravda.Ru special correspondent Daria Aslamova, when visiting Lebanon, interviewed Dr. Hussein Haj Hassan, a member of Hezbollah party, former Minister of Agriculture and member of the Patriotic Council. He explained why the Palestinians cannot be broken, how Israel lost its legitimacy and who is going to win the special operation in Ukraine.

Good afternoon, will you please introduce yourself to our viewers?

I am Hussein Haj Hassan, a Member of the Hezbollah Party, former Minister of Agriculture and member of the Patriotic Council.

Mr. Hussein, we are now in a state of severe conflict that is happening in Gaza, between Hamas and Israel. What is the likelihood that this conflict will evolve over into a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon?

We know very well what our enemy is. Because it started before the establishment of Israel around 1947. Their policy is always very aggressive, very merciless. And now what is happening in Gaza is at the same time quite strong repressions are being carried out on the West Bank of the Jordan. And how Lebanon could also become an arena for this. Israel has already attacked Lebanon, and it has already occupied part of Lebanon. But from my past practice, past experience, I should know that Lebanon resists quite fiercely.

Is war possible?

We cannot, of course, exclude such a possibility. But they understand that we are strong and that we will resist, that it will not be easy for them. They will think a lot before attacking us. They are, of course, very aggressive, because they have Britain and America behind them, and they think that they can do anything. Because they overestimate their strength a little.

Are you ready for war? Is Hezbollah ready for this war?

Of course, we, as a resistance movement, are constantly prepared for such a development of events that if this suddenly happens, we will respond, of course. And we, of course, always remember that all the troubles in our region are caused by Zionists, because they constantly organize some kind of provocations, they kill people. We know who we are dealing with. And therefore, not only here in Lebanon, but also the resistance movement in the surrounding countries, we are all ready for the fact that something might happen and we will have to fight.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, everyone expected Hezbollah to open a second front and thereby help Palestine. Why didn't you open a second front and do you plan to open it?

Our first task is to make sure that the enemies do not achieve their goals in this war. I don't know if you already know that yesterday there was a meeting of the Israeli Likud party, which is headed by Netanyahu, a Zionist aggressive entity. And among the things that were discussed at this meeting yesterday was the eviction of people from Gaza and the continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank. They do not hide their goals. Naturally, the same as before, that is, to Egypt, to Jordan, to Lebanon and to Syria.

They want to evict?

Evict, yes. Of course, this is very negative; if people move, it will affect neighboring countries, including in demographic terms. And we, naturally, like any country, should not allow this. Because everyone will become weak(?) after this. Of course, we understand that they want the water that is in Lebanon, they want the fertile lands that are located here.

Israel wants that?

Yes. Since Lebanon is a goal, one of the goals of the Zionists, we will also, as it were, resist so that they do not evict us from here nor do they take possession of what we have. And therefore, since October 8, we have been participating, one way or another, in this war. And we will continue this for as long as we can. That is, until the moment when they finally stop bombing Gaza. The main thing is that we have determination. Whether we are achieving our goals in this war now, we can understand from observing the enemy. Since they scare us all the time, it means they are afraid of us. And a lot of all sorts of emissaries and negotiators come who are trying to persuade us to do what Israel needs. That is, we feel that they are afraid of us, otherwise we would not behave this way. We are being asked to finally demarcate the borders between Lebanon and Israel. This is a bit of a sore point for us. But how would we talk that we won't talk about this while Gaza is being bombed.

Do you understand, does Hezbollah understand, that after Israel deals away with Hamas, you are the next target?

The main thing is that they will not be able to deal away with Hamas in Gaza. We are sure of this. Because the people cannot be defeated. They can only kill defenseless people — children and women, destroy buildings, but they cannot win. The main thing is to pay attention to the fact that they are destroying hospitals so that people do not have a place where they can be treated. They bomb mosques and churches so that people cannot pray there. This is a religious component.

And they bomb schools so that people have nowhere to sleep and then children have nowhere to study. They say that in the north of Gaza they have achieved something and subjugated it. In fact, they pulled back from there but Hamas stayed. This is a known fact, and even Israel admits that. About 115 days have already passed. And through this all the time, almost all the tunnels are still in place. It is believed that Hamas lost about ten percent.

Ten percent of what?

Ten percent were their losses. These are not our numbers — these are the numbers that Israel and America officially exposed. Independent sources cite this data too Our resistance continues, the struggle continues. Today Hamas bombed Tel Aviv. They themselves say that the goal of destroying Hamas was still far away. Do you know the former Minister of Defense of Israel. He now seems to be leading military operations too. He admitted himself that it was maybe about time Israel should stop lying. We need to prepare for big deals. Who do you think is winning this war — Israel or Hamas?

But look at the parity of power. Israel has aircraft, tanks, artillery, but Hamas has nothing.

Do you remember what happened in Stalingrad? Wasn't it like that? In Leningrad.

In Leningrad, yes.

People cannot be broken. And the person who is right does not give up. The invader will leave. The Soviet Union lost more than 20 million.

We lost almost… 27 million, yes.

We need to look at what happened in history. There were such examples in history before. Before 1947 there was no Israel. There was Palestine, there was the Palestinian people who were expelled. And people lived in tents just like they do now too.

And then the Israelis, some of them, some of their leaders said that the adults would die and the children would forget. The adults died. But those who were small, they grew up, they did not forget anything. If we are now talking about those who are 25 years old now, they were born in the 2000s, this is the generation that grew up after Oslo and other agreements. These are the ones who are being killed now. They are the people who were born after all those peace treaties.

Now the Palestinian people are being killed before the eyes of the whole world — children, women, old people. And everything is being destroyed around. Have you seen at least one Palestinian whom they could break? On the contrary, they are all examples of resilience, despite those wounds. Of course, Israel has airplanes, but Israeli airplanes do not represent the righteous side.

Truth is a very powerful weapon. And the one who has this weapon, especially if we are talking about the homeland, is something very broad, not personal. Homeland is a broad concept. This is the future. The Palestinians have proven that they are a nation who resist. Even though a lot of time has passed, they are still the same. Israel has lost legitimacy during this time.

Yes, these are important words: Israel has lost legitimacy. Agree. Now Israel is using very cruel, inhumane methods of personal killings on Lebanese territory. On January 2, al-Arouri was killed and Hamas people were killed in Beirut. How can Hezbollah counter this tactics, the Israeli tactics of personal assassinations?

In any military confrontation, of course, there are victims. And, naturally, the leaders are hunted first. They cannot win in a military confrontation. They switched to terror tactics. Naturally, we will respond. They have now shelled bases, have you heard of Miron base? Do you know what's there?

Miron base. I heard. Israeli base, right?

Yes. from there, they were commanding the operation in the north of Palestine, that is, in the Lebanon area. And we destroyed them. And in Haifa too. That is, we believe that this is an adequate response to what they did. This is war. We are losing comrades, but what to do? But we must answer, of course.

You are now dealing with, Palestine, first of all, is dealing with sympathy in the Islamic world: people rise in Iraq, people rise in Syria, Yemeni Houthis, who in principle have no serious weapons, attacking Israeli and American ships. Do you somehow maintain relations with Muslims of other countries, for example, with Yemeni Houthis?

Of course, yes. We are in contact with the entire resistance movement of the region, because we have a common goal. That is, we are not talking only about Muslims, Christians are with us, because Zionism is a common enemy. Our next enemy is apparently America. Of course, yes, we must communicate to understand who is doing what.

I came from Russia, from Moscow, I am a Russian journalist, so I cannot help but ask you, of course, what kind of relationship does Hezbollah have with Russia now?

This is a friendly relationship. We have many of the same approaches to many of the world's problems.

And this is a very long-term relationship that we've had, especially during the Soviet Union. Hezbollah members have made many official visits to Russia, met with many officials, with Russian ambassadors, and it has always been this way, it has been this way for a long time. Russia is our friend and Moscow supports us in our problems. And, of course, now in what is happening around Ukraine, we support the Russian position, because what is happening there is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, that is, it is clear that this is a war with NATO and clearly, America is behind all this.

So you are now considering the conflict, Russia's special operation in Ukraine as a war between Russia and the collective West?

That's understandable. Who pays the money, who brings the weapons? The West does. All the sanctions that have been imposed against Russia are enough to understand who is behind it. There were Minsk agreements. And who made sure that they did not come true? America did. Unfortunately, ordinary people pay for this both in Russia and Ukraine. And, of course, maybe there are some problems specifically between Russia and Ukraine, it doesn't happen that everything goes smoothly, but America gets into relations between countries and makes them even worse. Then there's Nord Stream 2. Trump was against it, and that was back when Merkel… When Germany tried not to dance to the American tune, the Americans imposed sanctions against them. There was no war then yet. That is, this problem does not lie on the surface, one needs to look at the roots of it. That is, the entire West supports Ukraine, supports the Zelensky regime with money and everything, with political support.

The relations between Hezbollah and Russia have been going well, but is there any specific help that you expect from us?

We are friends not because we want something from someone. That is, we do it selflessly. That is, we have a relationship that is built on principles, on politics, on friendly relations with each other. We are not friends because we want something.

Common values, that's what I understand. Then a counter question: Russia is now in a difficult situation, it is waging a war on different fronts, maybe you can help us with something?

Russia is not weak. She is very strong. Just look at how big the enemy Russia has to deal with is. And all these sanctions. Russia lives despite them. Is she weak? If we can help in any way, we are always ready to help if asked.

Do you believe in Russia's victory in the war with NATO?

Everything suggests that she will win. Two months ago the head of NATO said: "Expect bad news from Kyiv.” Now the United States is refusing to allocate money to Ukraine — what does this mean: a victory for Russia or something else, or a defeat? Zelensky constantly asks for help everywhere. Does this mean that he is winning? Where is last year's Ukrainian counteroffensive?

From a religious point of view, victory is achieved in an hour. Be patient and win. Russia is a strong state. She continues to fight. How much was the ruble worth before the war?

Well, the ruble has declined. It has lost a third of its value. It was 60 rubles per dollar.

You see, it's only a third, despite such sanctions”. What do the people feel about it? Any defeatist attitude there?

No. No panic.