Lebanon has been given a reprieve since Israel agreed to a cease fire after bombarding the country’s southern parts. Now tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah headed back to their devastated towns and villages on Wednesday. Under the terms of the deal that brought the war to a halt, the Lebanese military started reinforcing its presence in Lebanon’s war battered south. This region is where Hezbollah has long held sway. The war escalated after nearly a year of cross-border fire launched by the militant group in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. It was Hamas’ attack on Israel in October last year that sparked the war in Gaza.
It killed thousands of people in Lebanon and triggered mass displacements on both sides of the border. Israel shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon in September to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks, dealing the movement a series of heavy blows. The Iran-backed group has emerged from the war significantly weakened, including the killing in an Israeli air raid of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. But that did not stop it from proclaiming “victory” over Israel in a statement released Wednesday. “Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause,” the Hezbollah statement said. Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told AFP that his group was cooperating on the Lebanese army’s deployment in south Lebanon.
The Lebanese suffered serious repercussions from the war. These were not as bad as those suffered in Gaza. Still the people of Southern Lebanon face no easy task to rebuild. Hezbollah may be claiming victory but with the deployment of the country’s formal military to the south the returning refugees are not in a celebratory mood. The death of Hezbollah’s third general secretary and decades long leader Hassan Nasrallah may have weakened the militant group but it has also opened a power vacuum for the ambitious. The group’s current new leader Naim Qassem (71) will have a firm grip on the organization though. It is clear from the devastation in the south that Hezbollah is far from having attained victory. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu only agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon to continue the war in Gaza.
In Lebanon, more than 900,000 people fled their homes in recent weeks, according to the United Nations, as Israel pounded the country, focusing in particular on Hezbollah strongholds. Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri called on the displaced to go back to their homes despite the devastation. “I invite you to return to your homes… return to your land,” said Berri, who led negotiations on behalf of his ally Hezbollah. Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Israel to respect the terms of the truce and said Lebanon was turning the page on “one of the most painful phases that the Lebanese have lived in their modern history”. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “We control positions in the south of Lebanon, our planes continue to fly in Lebanese airspace.” He added that Israel “arrested suspects and killed terrorists” on Wednesday.
The south of Lebanon has long been at the heart of controversy in the Middle East region when it comes to Hezbollah. With 900,000 men, women and children displaced and their villages and homes destroyed, they will need financial aid to help them rebuild (again). The Lebanese government will have to turn to the United States and the other western powers particularly its former colonial master France for money. As regards to the Lebanese returning back home, they will have to brace themselves for reconstruction. Most of them possibly lost loved ones during the strikes on their homes. For some of the refugees turning a page may not be as easy as desiring for a reversal of their situation. This is a complex war in which a mouse (Hezbollah) provoked a venomous snake (the Zionist regime). The mouse did not escape with out being bitten.
BEIRUT: Israel conducted strikes on the Syrian border with Lebanon that a war monitor said killed seven people, hours ahead of a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad he was “playing with fire” on Tuesday (Nov 26), as he announced the truce with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Assad is a key ally and backer of Hezbollah, and Syria has served as the main conduit of weapons for the armed group from Iran to Lebanon. Hezbollah deployed fighters into Syria during its civil war, and played a key role in propping up Assad’s regime during the revolt that erupted in 2011. The nighttime strikes hit border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, killing seven people including two Syrian soldiers, a child and a Syrian Red Crescent volunteer, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria has long been plagued by its own civil war since 2011 and the Arab Spring. Assad and his regime were able to whither the storm. Assad and his inner circle have relied heavily on their close ties to both the Islamic Republic of Iran and Lebanon’s militant faction of Hezbollah. The result is that Assad’s government and supporting military in Damascus and regime held territory act as the passage for Hezbollah’s weaponry and other forms of aid from Iran. In return Hezbollah allied itself with Assad against his enemies the rebels of the Free Syria Army and the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Syria has long had a special position in Hezbollah’s political alliance. This is why Israel under Netanyahu feels so threatened by the resurgence of the Assad regime in Syria. A weakened and fragmented Syria may be in Tel Aviv’s best interests and calculations.
Meanwhile it looks like Israel is just licking its wounds for now. It cannot risk a war on two or even three fronts if Syria, is included along side Lebanon and Gaza. For now, self-preservation is the main priority for the Israelis. An all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and their allies in Syria could jeopardise Israel’s security and draw both the United States and Iran into the conflict. An escalation that could throw the region into chaos.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
