Hassan Nasrallah said today Hizbullah still has more than 20,000 rockets despite its war with Israel.
"The resistance today, pay attention...has more than 20,000 rockets," Nasrallah told a Hizbullah rally. "Within days, and (despite) emerging from a ferocious war (Hizbullah) has recovered all its organisational and military capabilities...it is stronger than it was before July 12th."
Nasrallah also called for a new government in Lebanon, saying the current anti-Syrian coalition could not tackle the challenges facing the country after the 34-day war with Israel.
"There is no army in the world that can (force us) to drop our weapons from our hands, from our grip," he declared. The huge turnout in a country of just four million was a gesture of defiance to Israel but also marked a challenge to the US-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Hizbullah has two ministers in the cabinet, but most cabinet members oppose the group's alliances with Syria and Iran.
"The current government is unable to protect Lebanon, or to reconstruct Lebanon or to unify Lebanon," Nasrallah said, calling for a new "national unity government".
Since the war, Israeli officials have said they would continue to target Hizbullah's leadership but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert refused to comment on Thursday on whether Israel would try to kill Nasrallah if he appeared at the rally.
Thousands had walked to the rally from Shia villages in south Lebanon battered by Israel's bombardment and invasion.
The Beirut crowds carried pictures of Nasrallah and yellow Hizbullah flags bearing the message: "Here we are Nasrallah".
Many wore yellow T-shirts and chanted pro-Hizbulah slogans. Some said they were there not only to celebrate but also simply to see the charismatic Nasrallah.
"God was generous to us and granted us this victory against our enemy. He was generous to us and gave us Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah so we come here to celebrate with him," Hussein Kaddouh, 29, from the southern village of Yater, said.
The rally had been expected to coincide with the final withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south, but Israel's army chief said on Wednesday the pullout might take a few more days.
Israeli forces have been gradually leaving territory they captured in fighting that began after Hizbulah guerrillas seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Israel and Hizbullah have both declared themselves victors in the war which killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mainly soldiers.