Blinken Reveals Failure in the War on the Resistance by Proposing a Ceasefire-for-Presidency Deal / Afif: The War is Just Beginning, and the Resistance Holds the Upper Hand – Don’t Rush to Exploit the Situation

 October 12, 2024

The political editor wrote

Amid the steadfast resilience of the resistance’s positions along the 120 km border, the Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly failed to make any breakthroughs, the latest being in the Naqoura and Al-Labouneh fronts, as reported by the Resistance Operations Room. With rockets raining down on an area of nearly 5,000 square kilometres, stretching from Lebanon’s northern border to Tel Aviv in the south, signs of fatigue are beginning to show among the occupation’s forces and settlers. They are questioning when the rockets will cease and when the displaced can return. The Israeli Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, gave unconvincing responses, claiming the rocket fire would stop within two weeks, before the Jewish holidays. However, the resistance’s intensified strikes on the heart of the occupying entity, capped by the arrival of two drones in the Gush Dan region, specifically Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, caused power outages, seemingly in retaliation for the bombing of Beirut the previous day. This solidified the equation: Tel Aviv in exchange for Beirut. This was in response to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s suggestion, that Beirut could be targeted in exchange for sparing Haifa, as though Tel Aviv was somehow beyond reach. Yet, the resistance’s statements made it clear: Haifa, like Safed, Nahariya, and Tiberias, would be targeted in response to the barbaric attacks on civilians in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa, and southern Lebanon.

Blinken, who officially communicated with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, also spoke with several Lebanese politicians aligned with Washington. He was promoting the idea of trading a ceasefire for the election of a president acceptable to Washington, thereby stalling any discussions of candidates outside of the U.S.-approved circle. Hezbollah’s Media Relations Officer, Haj Mohammad Afif, responded to this during a press conference in the southern suburbs, stating: “The enemy, despite bringing in more divisions and elite forces, has so far failed to advance on the ground, except in limited cases. Their tanks remain stationed in the rear, too afraid to move forward”. He added, “If you see or hear about enemy soldiers in this village or that, or about some old or new footage of this tunnel or that, do not worry or let your morale waiver. The resistance does not engage in static, positional defence. It employs flexible tactics suited to the battlefield, setting ambushes, planting explosives, and manoeuvring skillfully between defence and offence, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy”. Afif continued, “The enemy has begun to acknowledge its failures and losses gradually, forcing it to repeatedly withdraw and reassess its frontlines, which have not met its expectations. Nevertheless, I assure you that the resistance fighters refuse to abandon positions we consider militarily compromised, where defence is futile”. He concluded, “On the southern front, the resistance is strong. It manages its firepower and rocket salvos based on its assessment of the battlefield and the strategic situation. Our strategic reserves are intact, and thousands of Karbala-inspired martyrdom-seekers are at the peak of readiness, fully prepared to fight fiercely in defence of Lebanon and to avenge our most sacred martyr”.

Afif also addressed the media landscape, criticising what he described as “toxic phenomena” and the reluctance of official media and judicial institutions to take action against those inciting the killing of medics, bombing of infrastructure, and targeting of refugee shelters. Regarding politics and the presidential race, and the eagerness of resistance opponents to exploit the war for their own gains, Afif said, “We are not in 1982 when Israeli tanks rolled into Beirut, altering the political landscape and tearing apart Lebanon’s social fabric. We are, instead, in the early days of a new July War, when the same people rushed to declare Hezbollah’s defeat, only to realise their mistake and come to their senses by the war’s end, with Hezbollah emerging victorious”.