Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to give a speech Tuesday afternoon, the Hezbollah-affiliated TV station Al Manar reported Thursday.
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The official reason for Nasrallah's scheduled appearance is to mark 30 years since the station was founded, but it appears likely that the speech is really intended to put to rest rumors that his health is poor, which have been circulating since a previous speech was interrupted by his own coughing.
In a speech last week marking the anniversary of the IDF's withdrawal from the security zone in southern Lebanon, Nasrallah appeared weak and was having difficulty breathing. He told viewers that "enemies of Hezbollah" would use the appearance of illness against him.
A few social media users shared reported that Nasrallah's health was deteriorating, and some even shared one report that he was in a coma. These rumors met with denials from Hezbollah. Nasrallah's deputy, Naim Qassem, stressed that Nasrallah was in good condition and needed only a day or two to recover from a minor illness. Another Hezbollah official who spoke to the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar also claimed that Nasrallah was in good health.
Last week, Israel Hayom reported that journalists and media figures from Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world who follow Hezbollah were insisting that Nasrallah's apparent ill health was the result of seasonal allergies. They said that the Hezbollah leader always suffers from allergies in April and May, and his symptoms have nothing to do with a chronic disease he reportedly has, or with the COVID virus.
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