Hezbollah’s internal enemies.

Hezbollah’s internal enemies. Part one. Muslims.

Sunnis.

20 years ago, Lebanon experienced the Cedar Revolution, which aimed to withdraw Syrian troops from Lebanon (pro-Shia Syria occupied half of the country from 1976 to 2005) and disarm Hezbollah. The revolution was led by an alliance of Lebanese Sunnis and Christians, which succeeded in overthrowing the Hezbollah-backed incumbent government, although it failed to get the group disarmed. Since then, Hezbollah has managed to regain power and bend the Sunnis to its will, forcing them into its coalition. Nevertheless, recently, amid a potential all-out war with Israel, Sunnis have been increasingly critical of the Shiite organization. For example, Lebanese Sunni channel MurrTV has repeatedly featured guests who have stated that Israel is certainly the enemy, but it is Hezbollah that has dragged Lebanon into this war and risks destroying the country. In addition, 66 percent of the Sunni population supports the idea that political and economic reform for Lebanon is far more important than any foreign policy issue, meaning that two-thirds of Sunnis believe that the Gaza issue is not worth sacrificing the country’s already half-dead economy, along with the remnants of its prosperity, for.

Shiites.

Yes, you read that correctly. Hezbollah’s ability to pose a constant threat to Israel on its northern border is largely due to the fact that all of southern Lebanon is controlled by Shiites, many of whom are part of Hezbollah’s ranks. But strategic advantage can easily become a political problem if real conflict breaks out. Just as in northern Israel, the entire border area of southern Lebanon has been evacuated, and it is the Shiite settlements one by one that are being reduced to construction dust. And while Hezbollah supporters are still willing to put up with this (although they too have more and more questions), many of their neighbors are much less patient, not understanding why their villages should be turned into a second Gaza. It got to the point that last October a Shiite protest movement called Tahrir (“liberation”) was established in Lebanon. From whom they were going to liberate Lebanon, it is not necessary to explain.

However, despite all this, and even the fact that 30 years ago the pro-Israeli army of southern Lebanon, mostly composed of Shiites, fought against the same Hezbollah, one cannot expect today that Shiites or Sunnis with weapons will go against the group. Muslims in Lebanon have come to terms with the reality that Hezbollah controls the country.

But.

All of this is relevant as long as the country itself exists. Neither most Sunnis nor many Shiites will forgive Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into a war with absolutely disastrous outcomes for the country. And the unpredictable consequences of their anger and rage could turn into colossal problems for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s internal enemies. Part two. Non-Muslims.

Christians.

From the time of the civil war through the Cedar Revolution to the present day, the Maronites (Lebanese Christians) have always been, are, and apparently will always be Hezbollah’s main enemies inside Lebanon. Moreover, it is the Christian parties Lebanese Forces and Kataib that are among the few parties that still remain loyal to the ideas of the Cedar Revolution, openly opposing Hezbollah. And beyond the obvious fact that Christians, like many others in the country, do not want Lebanon to be dragged into war, there is another factor. Many Christians believe that it was Israel that saved them from the slaughter that could have been inflicted on them by Lebanese Muslims during the civil war, and therefore not only oppose the war, but openly call for normalization of relations with Israel. And some go even further and declare that they sincerely hope that Israel will destroy Hezbollah once and for all.

Druze.

At the time of the Cedar Revolution, the Druze, along with Christians and Sunnis, fought to overthrow the Hezbollah-based government and demanded the group’s disarmament. Since then, Hezbollah, using the divide-and-conquer method, has been able to split the Druze community and, by threatening internecine warfare in the Druze sector, has forced a significant decrease in the level of criticism directed at it. But the Druze community has one important feature: due to the absence of any semblance of churches or mosques, the main sanctuary for every Druze remains his home (because of this, for example, the residents of Majdal Shams refused to evacuate despite the danger). Therefore, 3 years ago, the Druze clearly demonstrated that they do not want to be part of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, when a few militants of the group came up with the idea of placing a rocket launcher aimed at Israel in the Druze town of Shuya. The town’s assembled community explained to the guests in an accessible manner that it would not allow Hezbollah to use its villages, forcibly pushing the militants back into their cars and forcing them to leave the town immediately. There have been no such incidents since.

Now to all of the above, let’s add a geographical factor. Lebanon’s Shiite south is bounded to the north by the territories of Christians and Druze, who either hate Hezbollah or will not allow them to risk their most sacred place – their home. So, in the event of a major Israeli offensive inland (beyond the Litani River), Hezbollah would have to retreat into territory that would be utterly hostile to their presence. The consequences of this are almost impossible to calculate.

Western Wall

Mohamad Ali El Husseini — OPEN LETTER,
Hamas and Hezbollah: How Iran Is Secretly Infiltrating Europe,
Hezbollah tunnels,
Herta Muller — OPEN LETTER.