Hezbollah’s practices interact on the internal and external scenes alike, especially that the recent escalation with the Druze and the recent missile attacks it launched on northern Israel are enough to kill what remained of hope in building Lebanon and overcoming the worsening crisis, Lebanese analysts and politicians say.
In the past few hours, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing a volley of missiles targeting northern Israel, coinciding with confrontations with the Druze residents of Hasbaya.
Play with fire, very dangerous developments..
Commenting on the developments in southern Lebanon, Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces Party, considers these developments are reaching a very dangerous stage, in addition to being played with fire by the Iranian-backed Militias of Hezbollah. He warns of significant consequences in light of the current development.
Geagea also believes that the Lebanese people can no longer tolerate more torments and suffering on a daily basis, pointing out that the party’s practices will destroy the rest of the Lebanese people.
In the same context, concerns are rising about the consequences of the party’s firing of 10 missiles, with Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the US and the UN, confirming that Tel Aviv will not allow harm to its citizens and will not hesitate to respond and destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure, which is scattered throughout Lebanon and threatens Israel, he said.
In addition, Avichai Adraee, Israeli army spokesman, accuses Hezbollah of working to close previous files through this operation, which it has not been able to respond to so far by seeking to launch an open war with Israel, hinting that the Israeli army is preparing for all scenarios.
A political prelude to an escalatory intent.
Michel Bou Saab, a political analyst, describes the appearance of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, a few days ago, and his accusation of Saudi Arabia and regional countries of dragging Lebanon into a civil war, as a political prelude to escalatory intentions.
“Through Nasrallah’s statements, the party tried to rehabilitate Lebanese society for a new escalation phase and to show that it was imposed on it and that the party had carried out it to protect Lebanon,” he explains.
“Nasrallah seems to be living away from the developments of the Lebanese street and thought, and that his time still stands at the year 2006, and talk of a divine victory that the Lebanese people will forget their crises. But what happened in Hasbaya and the south and the expulsion of Druze youths to Hezbollah fighters proves that the Lebanese arena has changed and that the party must realize that the Lebanese people are outside its fiery and ideological discourse,” Bou Saab adds. He points out that the party’s response by expelling and assaulting the Druze vendors reveals that it is looking for any escalating crisis, whether at home or abroad, regardless of its costs, in order to maintain its strength, weapons and dominance over the country..
Bou Saab also refers that it is time for Hezbollah and Nasrallah to realize that they are not the only ones in Lebanon, as there are other components that have their word, opinion and interests, and the time of Syrian guardianship ended a long time ago. he indicates that the current time, circumstances and developments require a decisive international, regional and domestic stance on the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons more than ever before, otherwise Lebanon will become a mere memory.
In addition, Bou Saab considers that Israel’s announcement a few days ago about the launch of an exercise simulating military combat on the Lebanese border, not only aims to improve the readiness of its forces for battles on the border with Lebanon, according to Israeli officials, but rather is an indication of Israel’s readiness to destroy whole Lebanon, as punishment for Hezbollah practices.
Lebanon’s disasters and Iran’s interests..
For his part, Hossam Youssef, a Middle East researcher, comments on the Lebanese developments, noting that the election of a new president for Iran from hard-line circles plays a major role in the escalation in Lebanon. Especially since it coincided with another unprecedented escalation in the Persian Gulf, during which Iran was accused of pirating several ships in the Gulf waters in one day.
Youssef considers that the decision to escalate inside Lebanese territory was issued by Iran, not by Hezbollah. “There are three reasons to emphasize this issue: the first is that the party is suffering militarily, financially and politically to the extent that it cannot withstand any reaction by Israel. The second is that Raisi is trying to impose a new negotiating logic with the international community, and the third is Iran’s desire regardless of what it is doing in other arenas, including Afghanistan and Iraq,” Youssef says.
The second result, which Youssef presents in his view, is the existence of a strict Iranian decision to destabilize Lebanon, to serve many other files, the first of which is the nuclear file, economic sanctions and political pressure, as the decision was taken in Tehran and implemented in the southern suburbs.
Youssef also points out that what is required nationally from Hezbollah and its Secretary-General is to act according to the requirements and needs of the internal arena, rather than regional commitments and Iranian interests. Lebanon is incapable of the party’s adventures, and the Lebanese people have reached an unprecedented catastrophic state.
