Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah on Friday offered deep condolences to the families of the martyrs claimed in Beirut Port blast, hoping a speedy recovery for the wounded.
“We are before a major humanitarian and national catastrophe at all levels,” his eminence said in a televised speech. “There are more than 150 martyrs; the majority of them are Lebanese, with a remarkable number of Syrians and national from of different countries.”
“There are thousands of wounded, and dozens are missing. Tens of thousands of families left their damaged homes due to the explosion,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. “Livelihoods of thousands were affected, and panic stormed the hearts of millions. “Buildings shook in a way that made people believe that it was a major earthquake or that there was an explosion close to them.”
Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the major negative effects of Beirut blast on the humanitarian, medical and economic situation in the country. “Beirut blast has been completely obliterated. This would cause major economic losses.”
“This explosion affected all the Lebanese with all their sectarian affiliations,” Hezbollah leader said, adding “Beirut is city of all the Lebanese and represents all segments of Lebanese society.”
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that all the Lebanese must face such catastrophes in an exceptional way psychologically, politically and in media, adding, “We must express sympathy, love and solidarity with each other.”
In this regard, Hezbollah Secretary General underscored the speedy intervention of the civil committees in helping the state authorities, adding that the role of the medics, rescue teams, municipalities, religious boards and individuals was vital in face of the consequences of the calamity (removing debris, cleaning streets, etc.).
Sayyed Nasrallah emphasized that Hezbollah followers, institutions, and committees rushed after the explosion to provide relief aids to the affected people, reiterating the party’s readiness to assist the government authorities in face of the catastrophe and provide temporary shelters for those whose houses were damaged or destroyed. “We have an experience in housing people after July 2006 War, and I ask people to take our offer seriously.”
Sayyed Nasrallah hailed the stances taken and relief aids sent by the Arab and foreign governments as well as resistance movements to support Lebanon despite the siege imposed by the United States, pointing out that Hezbollah views the visit of the French President positively as it come in the context of helping and uniting the Lebanese.
“We wish US imposed its siege just on Hezbollah, not on all the Lebanese.”
Sayyed Nasrallah added that when catastrophes occur, everyone halts disputes and conflicts in order to preserve unity in face of the challenge, but that after Beirut explosion, this unfortunately did not happen.
“Just after the explosion, some local and Arab TV channels as well as social media pages adopted an alleged scenario which claims that Beirut port’s warehouse which exploded contained missiles or ammunition for Hezbollah. Although official sources denied the presence of missiles in the port and confirmed that nitrate is used for agricultural and industrial purposes, they (local and Arab TV channels) insisted that the ammonium nitrate had been stored by Hezbollah for 6 years in order to blame the party for the explosion.”
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that this claim is an unjust defamation, adding that they follow the propaganda law: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”
“I categorically deny the claim that Hezbollah has arms cache, ammunition or anything else in the port.”
