I have decided to officially and clearly declare that we have achieved a great victory, which is greater than the one in July 2006, said the leader of the Islamist movement and continued:
We won because we prevented the enemy from destroying Hizbollah and from annihilating or weakening our resistance.
The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah came into effect on Wednesday night, Swedish time, but since then, both sides have accused each other of breaking it.
In his speech, his first public statement since the ceasefire came into effect, Qassem says that Hizbollah will cooperate with the Lebanese military to ensure that the ceasefire is followed by both sides and to increase the military's capacity.
Qassem has in recent months both advocated for a ceasefire as a solution, and simultaneously presented a strategy for attacking Israeli interests.
Nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in Lebanon during the month-long war between Israel and Hizbollah in 2006. Both parties claimed victory in the war.
