Hezbollah official Nawaf Moussawi claims in TV interview that the elimination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israel’s attacks targeting pagers belonging to Hezbollah terrorists were a result of the group’s negligence and were not an Israeli accomplishment.
Hezbollah official Nawaf Moussawi claimed in a TV interview last week that the elimination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israel’s attacks targeting pagers belonging to Hezbollah terrorists were a result of the group’s negligence.
He further argued that such an event would not have happened while Hezbollah’s former military chief Imad Mughniyeh was still alive, recalling how Mughniyeh had ensured Nasrallah’s safety during the 2006 war by constantly moving him, never allowing him to stay in the Dahieh.
Moussawi also criticized Nasrallah’s personal security protocol, highlighting that while visitors were thoroughly checked for buttons and rings, no one had considered inspecting the pagers carried by Hezbollah members.
The comments by Moussawi were made in an interview on Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen TV which is affiliated with Hezbollah, and were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
“I could not imagine – and I am still stunned by this – that Nasrallah was still in the Dahieh [when the Israeli strike in which Israel eliminated him took place]. In 2006, Imad Mughniyeh was in charge of Nasrallah’s security,” Moussawi said.
“Mughniyeh would move Nasrallah from one place to the other. I thought that Nasrallah was still being moved from one house to the other, and from one place to the other, so that he would not be detected,” he added.
“I know that he should not have been in any place where he could be detected, and the entire Dahieh was under the American-Israeli microscope. This definitely shocked me.”
Later in the interview, Moussawi claimed, “The annoying thing is that the Israelis believe that they did something great, but take it from me – all of Israel’s achievements against us had nothing to do with being smart. They keep bragging about these things…”
On the pager attacks, he said, “If I get a wristwatch as a present, I send it to be checked by our preventive security unit, even if it means that they would have to take it apart. When I would go to meet Nasrallah, they would check my rings, the buttons on my shirt, and so on. But if I come with a pager, they don’t open it?!”
“No matter who bought [the pagers], why weren’t they checked? Why were they not opened? I am saying this because Hezbollah used to be a role model for resistance groups across the world – from Latin America to Afghanistan, everywhere in Europe, and so on. Hezbollah is the top. So the fact that Hezbollah was hit like that does not mean that these were Israeli achievements. It was shortcomings and negligence on our part.”On the pager attacks, he said, “If I get a wristwatch as a present, I send it to be checked by our preventive security unit, even if it means that they would have to take it apart. When I would go to meet Nasrallah, they would check my rings, the buttons on my shirt, and so on. But if I come with a pager, they don’t open it?!”
“No matter who bought [the pagers], why weren’t they checked? Why were they not opened? I am saying this because Hezbollah used to be a role model for resistance groups across the world – from Latin America to Afghanistan, everywhere in Europe, and so on. Hezbollah is the top. So the fact that Hezbollah was hit like that does not mean that these were Israeli achievements. It was shortcomings and negligence on our part.”
