In his first televised speech since the unprecedented attacks, which took place over two days and killed at least 37 people, Nasrallah on Thursday called them a “big blow in terms of security and humanity” but said they have failed to bring the group to its knees.

He conceded the attacks were “unprecedented in the history of the resistance movement in Lebanon” as well as “in the history of our country” and “our enemy”.

But Nasrallah said Hezbollah would continue supporting Palestinians in Gaza “no matter what the consequences are, what the sacrifices are, what scenarios will unfold”.

He added that what happened did not impact the group’s command, control or infrastructure.
“I reassure you our infrastructure has not been touched,” he said.

“He is down, but he is defiant,” Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara added, referring to the Hezbollah leader. “[But] it’s a major blow to Hezbollah. There is no doubt about that. ”

“But at the same time, there was something that felt ambiguous when he spoke about keeping the accountability or the retaliation within a very small circle. I think he spoke about the investigation within the organisation, within Hezbollah.”

“We have an answer from him that he’s definitely going to come back but without saying when and how,” Analyst Sultan Barakat, a professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera, adding that the speech aimed to present a “partial win” for Hezbollah.