Personal appearance by Nasrallah could be target for attacks
While Hezbollah sources hint that Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah may appear in person to deliver this year's Quds Day speech, there are questions of whether he can, in light of genuine concerns for his safety.
BEIRUT — It is being said in the media that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah will make a public appearance and a comprehensive speech on July 25. This appearance, however, will be surrounded by three major considerations — its security circumstances, form and content — sources close to Hezbollah told Al-Monitor.
Concerning the security considerations that will accompany Nasrallah’s appearance, the sources said that the occasion will be accompanied by a high level of readiness and security in the outskirts of Beirut, the various neighborhoods of the southern suburbs and the main roads connecting the Lebanese capital to remote areas in the south and the Bekaa Valley.
The occasion is not an ordinary one for the organizing party, as it is taking place on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, the day set by the commander of the Iranian Revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as Jerusalem Day (also known as International Quds Day) in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in opposition to Israel’s control of Jerusalem. Therefore, the occasion will not merely be a televised speech by Nasrallah in Beirut.
It will be, first, an occasion for a Hezbollah mass rally that is expected to involve tens of thousands of supporters who will take to the main streets of the southern suburbs of Beirut. This huge march will then culminate with Nasrallah's speech.
