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#Thread (Why Now?)
Tonight at 17:30 Beirut time, the Secretary General of Hizbullah, Hasan Nasrallah, will be speaking to the nation in a broadcast. This speech was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed because of the Port of Beirut explosion on Tuesday. 1/
Tonight at 17:30 Beirut time, the Secretary General of Hizbullah, Hasan Nasrallah, will be speaking to the nation in a broadcast. This speech was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed because of the Port of Beirut explosion on Tuesday. 1/
On Tuesday night, the Supreme Defence Council (SDC), among other things, set a five day limit to announce the results of an investigation into the explosion. 2/
The next morning, the International Tribunal for the assassination of President Rafiq Hariri, which was supposed to announce the results of its 15 year investigation on Friday; delayed its announcement indefinitely. 3/
It was everybody’s expectation, that Said Nasrallah would not announce a date for his rescheduled speech, until the SDC announces the results of its investigation on the explosion. 4/
So it came as a shock to everyone yesterday, when his speech was announced as scheduled for today, two days before the SDC announcement, and on the day the Hariri Tribunal originally scheduled its announcement. 5/
A few questions pop to our minds when considering the events and timing of the speech. Does Hizbullah, and by extension the Government of Lebanon, already know how the explosion was caused? 6/
Was the visit of Macron designed to pressure the Government to only implicate the obviously guilty local officials, and to ignore any foreign culprits? 7/
Are there those within the Government who agree with this strategy and are scared of the consequences of naming the foreign culprits, which will undoubtedly mean that Hizbullah has the right to, and no choice but to, respond in proportionate measures? 8/
Is Nasrallah choosing to speak now, as to liberate the Government from its duty to point the finger on the culprits, and the consequential declaration of war that has to follow? 9/
We wait patiently for tonight; the whole Arabic world will be hanging on the edge of every word that will come out of the mouth of the most credible, most truthful, and most respected political leader in the region. 10/10
