In the post -war Lebanon Hezbollah fights with a new relationship to the state | Israel attacks Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon – Hezbollah gathered thousands of his supporters for the funeral of the longtime leader of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in the Israeli air strike in September.

Funeral 23. February was an opportunity for a Lebanese group to send a message: despite the losses he experienced in the last few months, he is still strong and should not underestimate him.

But the analysts said Al Jazeera that shows the power does not compensate for the influence of Israel’s war against Hezbollah, in which he was killed most of the main leadership of the group and a significant part of his military Arsenal, which was allegedly destroyed.

When the interruption of the fire was finally announced on November 27, Hezbollah remained torn and exhausted.

The consent of the fire stated that Hezbollah would withdraw north of the Litani River and away from the Lebanese border with Israel, while Israeli forces would leave South Lebanon, and the newly discovered Lebanese army will control the south.

For days later, Hezbollah lost one of his most important allies, the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad, who fell into the lightning offensive.

Now he finds himself at the intersection.

Hezbollah weakened

“Hezbollah is in a difficult position,” said Salamey, Senior Political Policy Advisor and Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Lebanese, he told Al Jazeera, adding that the group “faced its weakest moment in decades.”

Prior to September, Hezbollah was the most influential political actor in Lebanon and is allegedly one of the farthest worldwide actors. It was formed for the rejection of the Israeli invasion in the 1980s, served against the great conflict with Israel in 2006 and has since built its arsenal and rank.

It is often described as a “state in the country”, and provides key services to its predominantly Shiite Muslim supporters – a community that the Lebanese state has historically overlooked and not enough.

A day after Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel and Israeli launch of a genocidal war at Gaza in October 2023, Hezbollah entered the conflict, hiring Israel along the border to press him to stop attacking Gaza. His intervention was much expected, given that the position of Hezbollah was long in favor of Palestine and against Israel.

The conflict escalated in September when Ezbollah doses and hopilaci-talkies exploded He blamed Israel in the attacks. Israel has also started Air blows List Lebanon on September 2, at least 558 people were killed, mostly civilians. The air attacks continued, and four days later Nasrallah was killed. Many of the military and religious leaders of Hezbollah have also been killed since then, including Nasrallah’s heir to Hashem Safieddine in early October.

Israel destroyed the infrastructure and homes throughout Lebanon, aiming for parts of the country where Muslims – Hezbollah’s support for support – such as southern and eastern Lebanon and southern suburbs Beirut lived. In October, he attacked Lebanon, a particularly devastating south, where he deleted the entire village.

Hezbollah remained military weakened and unable to fight Israel in the same way now as it used to.

“[New Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim] Qassem inherited the weaker Hezbollah than his predecessor Nasrallah, and it would be interesting to see if he would be smart from Navigators, since so much Nasrallah’s success was based on the party’s abilities to project power, “Elia Ayoub, Lebanese researcher and author.

“Whether they have decided to adopt a completely different methodology or not, we will see it in the coming months.”

A new political system and use of anger

Other sources of the power of Hezbollah were the support he receives from Iran, and materials through Syria and financial, a statement in the social support systems he led both in his political representation and influence.

However, as international attention was increasing to Lebanon after a ceasefire, his parliament was encouraged to choose a new president and prime minister in early January, ending two years of government paralysis.

For the first time since 2008, Hezbollah and his sister Shia Party, Amal, failed to appoint every Shiite approved ministerial portfolio in the new cabinet.

“Hezbollah no longer has financial resources, open Iranian support or clear military capacity to resist these changes,” Salamey said.

In order to best take advantage of the situation, Hezbollah tried to use what he could, said Karim Safieddine, a Lebanese political writer and doctoral student of sociology at Pittsburgh, for Al Jazeera.

“Hezbollah’s goal today is multiple,” Safieddine said.

“[They want to] Develop the outrage of the Shiite Community in search of the consolidation of control over it, find a way to move in the fact that it faces extreme financial challenges – the use of international support to the Government is one of the ways, but also while locating loans – [and] Continue justifying the holding of weapons on behalf of the state weakness and continue Israeli violations. “

While many displaced Lebanese began to return to the south after interruption of fire, Israel used the cessation of the attack of Hezbollah to continue Occupying many villages and Enter the other first time. The Lebanese government accused Israel of violating the trial conditions without retreating from South Lebanon and not stopping attacks on people and villages.

February 18. Israel announced that he would continue to occupy at least five key points In Lebanon, but now the Lebanese army is responsible for safety in the south, not Hezbollah – and some have criticized the army for failing to release the land and properly protect the people of the South.

Brought in

Hezbollah promised to pay the renewal and had already started evaluating the damage and distributing funds, the inhabitants of the Southern suburbs of Beirut and the villagers of South Lebanon told Al Jazeera.

The World Bank estimated $ 3.4 billion in damage to structures, and almost 100,000 residential units across the country were damaged or destroyed.

Damage is beyond Hezbollah’s reduced abilities.

Adding to her sense of being put aside, analysts said Hezbollah now admits that it is necessary to allow the Government to progress to attract the key side of financing to help the renovation of wide destruction caused by the attacks of Israel.

A waiting game and see

Hezbollah supported the majority election for the President, Joseph Aoun Military Chief, and, although he did not support Nawaf Salam for the Prime Minister or agreed with each headquarters in the cabinet, his MPs continued to give Salam’s new government voting about confidence lately.

“Sheikh Naim Qassem emphasized … The policy of the extension of the hand in the new age and the opportunity to go to Era and the Government the opportunity to play their role in the protection of the borders, the liberation of occupied Lebanese territories and renewal,” Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese political analyst, said he was close to Hezbollah.

“Of course, the party’s support base has comments on the performance of President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, but that does not change the positive position of the party.”

Some local media associated with Hezbollah claim that external pressure and support to the Government have isolated Hezbollah.

The editor-in-chief of Al Akhbar, Ibrahim Al-Amine, wrote in a recent introduction that through salami “Americans and Saudis want Hezbollah not directly represented in the Government” and “break the monopoly of Amal and Hezbollah Duo via [Shia] representation in the Government ”.

“The critique of the party towards the Government stems from his frustration,” Salamey said. “Hezbollah no longer has financial resources, open Iranian support or clear military capacity to resist these changes.”

“For now, Hezbollah has little choices than to adapt to this unfavorable situation and wait for the conditions to move in his favor,” Salamey said.

Even is Hezbollah in a slightly weakened position in relation to the state, this does not mean that their wide support goes anywhere.

“For … basic fans, I think this will make them more attached to Hezbollah because it will put it in the broader conspiracy dimension,” said Al Jazeera Ali Hashem. “This could encourage them to be even more aggressive in reflecting the point of view.”

He added that other members of the Shiite Community, who historically received social and other services from Hezbollah, could approach the approach to waiting and looking at the new government and seeing if he could fill the void created by the weakening of Hezbollah.