Wafiq Safa, a Hezbollah official, said the organization is in high spirits and claimed victory over Israel, evoking much condemnation from critics.
Safa is the head of Hezbollah’s coordination and liaison unit, responsible for the terror group’s connections to the formal Lebanese institutions, and was closely related to Hassan Nasrallah, both professionally and through family relations as his brother-in-law.
“Hezbollah was not defeated, and Hezbollah will not be defeated,” Safa stated over the crater formed during the assassination of Nasrallah in his bunker in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut on Sunday. “Hezbollah, as His Eminence Sayyed [Hassan Nasrallah] said, was created with victory imprinted on its forehead.”
Safa added that “Hezbollah’s resolve is stronger than iron… because it derives its strength from Allah,” that “the Israeli army and Israeli missiles were unable to break [Hezbollah],” and, “For those who are deluded that Hezbollah has become weak, for those who are deluded that Hezbollah is not what it was, I say that Hezbollah is stronger than it was.”
Safa said that the fact that the IDF breached only several hundred meters into southern Lebanon is proof of Hezbollah’s strength and Israel’s failure. He also pointed at what he deemed “a feeling of lack of security across Israel” as one of Hezbollah’s achievements, and proof of its powers and capabilities, adding that Hezbollah managed to “force” the ceasefire agreement on Israel, rather than the other way around.
During his speech, Safa also revealed that Nasrallah’s burial ceremony is scheduled to take place in the Dahiya quarter after the 60-day ceasefire runs out. Responding to reporters, Safa said that Hezbollah vetoed the nomination of Samir Geagea to president of Lebanon, claiming that his vision only leads to “war, destruction and discord.”
Critics: Enough with the hypocrisy
Not everyone was impressed with Safa’s bravado though.
One social media user wrote, “I think that your audience has come to believe Avichai Adraee more than they believe you,” referring to the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, while another added: “Enough with the hypocrisy, lies and hallucinations.”
Another user applied a play-on-words with Hezbollah’s name and a pagan goddess revered in ancient Arabia: “Hizb Al-Lat Party has become a mockery to the world,” while another opined: “I swear it’s like cancer in countries: wherever you are, the country becomes poor and sick”
Another user stressed Hezbollah’s obligations towards Lebanon: “Regardless of whether you are weaker or stronger… you have to start surrendering your weapons to the Lebanese state… if you want to avoid being treated as convicted traitors and spies of a foreign country.”
Others tried to confront Safa with the current situation that Lebanon is in. One wrote: “Hey Wafiq, 78 villages are occupied, 122 farms are forbidden to roam, and 800,000 are displaced, and you are saying that you have won. I mean, you guys are still planting drugs.”
Another wrote, “What would you call the killing of all Hezbollah leaders? What would you call the occupation of southern Lebanon? What would you call the destruction of all Hezbollah’s warehouses? What would you call the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and Safi Al-Din? What would you call the signing of the surrender treaty? What about the abandonment of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s word that he will not give up support for Gaza, if anything happens?”