Not much a western observer might add.
BEIRUT — A sister of Hizbollah fighter Mustafa Zalzali wears
mourning black for her brother, but his death in battle with Israel
elicits more pride than grief.
"We thank God almighty for
making us the family of a martyr," she said. "We received the news of
his martyrdom with pride," she told Hizbollah's Manar television.
Hizbollah fighters are well armed and trained. But one of the group's
greatest assets in its war with Israel is the willingness of its
fighters to die for their cause.
Hizbollah has killed 33
Israeli soldiers, including some of the army's best, in the war
triggered when the fighters captured two soldiers in a raid into Israel
on July 12.
"Hizbollah's strength really lies in its
fighters — that they are ready for death," Hizbollah expert Amal
Saad-Ghorayeb said. "The edge they have is their steadfastness and
resolve, which is derived from their religious ideology." The fighters
killed eight Israeli soldiers in one battle alone in the southern town
of Bint Jbeil on Wednesday. They also put up a stiff fight at the
border village of Maroun Ras.
Israel says it has killed more than 200 Hizbollah fighters, but the group says it has lost only 31.
"We
do not hide our martyrs," Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told
Al Jazeera television. "On the contrary, we always take pride in our
martyrs." Fighters killed in combat are celebrated as heroes by
Hizbollah, which emerged in the early 1980s to fight Israeli occupation
and enjoys strong support among Lebanese Shiites.
Well, let's do what we can to help them on their journey...