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Unreported in the Western Media: Hezbollah Is Losing Popular Support in Lebanon
Former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: Reuters/Aziz Taher
If one were to rely on the Western media for an assessment of the degree of support among the Lebanese population for Hezbollah, it would be easy to draw the totally erroneous conclusion that the diverse Lebanese ethnic groups have all rallied around Hezbollah.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. From the Christians to the Druze, and from the Sunnis to the dominant Shiites, there is a massive revulsion being expressed against the Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah, which had bullied its way toward becoming a mafia-like state within a state.
For the first time in over four decades, the Lebanese terrorist group appears frail. Following the elimination of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Sep. 27, the halo around its invulnerable strength against Israel and other regional rivals faded rapidly. Now the group is facing local disgruntlement, added to its diminishing ability to get involved in military conflicts around the region, including Syria and Yemen.
The terrorist organization — which was once considered to be one of the richest in the world thanks to the influx of narcotics money — is currently suffering its worst crisis and no longer perceived by the Lebanese public eye as a defender of their land.
Even before the death of Nasrallah, the Shia population showed disdain towards Hezbollah and its leader for hijacking their lives, and forcing the people to obey its Iranian-affiliated command or face dire consequences or death.
Shia Muslim Dissidence Toward Hezbollah and Iran
A major vocal critic of Hezbollah is prominent Lebanese Shia scholar Ali Al-Amin, who is influential amongst the Lebanese Shia population. In statements to Al Arabiya News on Oct 10, Al-Amin stressed the necessity of handing over Hezbollah’s weapons to the Lebanese army. He added, “In light of the presence of weapons other than those of the state, concern remains.”
“We expressed our opinion on this war after it broke out, and we said that it was not beneficial for Gaza and would harm Lebanon and put it in danger. As for saying that the Israeli threats were a clear justification for entering the war, this is an incorrect statement because these threats existed before October 7, 2023, so why didn’t Hezbollah declare war because of them?” said Al-Amin.
Lebanese Shia leaders, including Ali Al-Amin, blame Hezbollah for the demise of Lebanon and the hardships that Lebanese people are suffering there. Most importantly, the Shia opinions and anger towards both Hezbollah and Iran are dramatically increasing in Lebanon, with many accusing Iran of throwing Lebanon under the bus through its agent Nasrallah.
Real Anger Against Hezbollah Openly Expressed in the Media
Furthermore, the level of anger amongst average Shia Muslim Lebanese citizens, who were harmed by the terrorist group’s decision to go to war, runs deeper.
“Our building is destroyed, orders were issued that we can’t go back and bring our clothes … They tell us, that’s your problem, work it out! We don’t have money to eat, they respond that this is a decision from the security and anyone who goes back home will be shot at. They want to take decisions on our homes on our behalf” said one desperate Lebanese citizen from Beirut’s southern district — which is Hezbollah’s stronghold — in a viral video online on Oct 17.
The disdain towards Hezbollah is not just emitting from Lebanese Shia scholars — it far extends into the Shia Muslim population in the country. One of the more vocal voices against Hezbollah and the Iranian control of the country is political analyst Hadi Murad.
“This Iranian expansion is calling for fighting till the last Shia Muslim in Lebanon … The Iranian is not welcomed to give us orders from above,” said Murad in a short video posted for Lebanese network Al Mashad on his Facebook page on Oct 7th.
Other non-Shia Lebanese citizens called upon the Shia population in Lebanon to seize this crisis as an opportunity to rise against the dominance of Hezbollah and Iran.
Lebanese Judicial Commissioner Peter Germanos did just that in an interview for Al Hadath Network on October 10th.
“This is an opportunity for the esteemed Shia sector in Lebanon. We know as Lebanese who have a lot of friends that many Shia advocates don’t support Hezbollah and many others who used to sympathize with Hezbollah and today, they realized that Iran exploited that situation and there is an Iranian betrayal and that is apparent,” said Germanos.
Germanos went on to call for an uprising by Lebanese Shia against Iran.
“What is required now is a Shia uprising, the key to the solution for this (crisis) is a genuine Shia uprising for Shias to not have their sons killed for the sake of the Iranian nuclear program,” said Germanos.
New Exposés of Hezbollah Operations and Its Use of Human Shields
The “Lebanese Survivor” YouTube channel, which is operated by former Lebanese army General Tabet Tabet, has been exposing Hezbollah secret operations for years. A report from October 17th said, “What Hezbollah leaders, media and politicians used to say that if you (Israel) attack us we will attack you and march on Galilee and Jerusalem, but the fact today is that when you (Israel) hits us, we run away. And yesterday, we had Mohamed Raad (a Hezbollah-affliated MP) and Wafiq Safa (Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Officer) shamelessly hide among civilians in Beirut.”
“You have Hezbollah storing its weapons and munitions inside civilian homes,” said the report.
Mohamed Shoieb is a Lebanese activist and founder of the Southern Independent People Front. His daughter was once kidnapped by Hezbollah, and three commercial stores he owned were shut down by order of Hezbollah. As a Shia resident of southern Lebanon, he is fed up with Hezbollah policies.
“Take it from me and I am responsible for every word I say; more than 95 percent of the southern Lebanon population are objecting to the rule of Hezbollah but they are afraid,” said Shoeib in an interview in September.
At this stage, even though Hezbollah has taken a beating by the Israelis, it is far too premature to announce the permanent demise of Iran’s most favored terrorist proxy in the Middle East. For years, few dared to criticize Hezbollah for fear of losing their lives. Hezbollah had no qualms about executing Lebanon’s leaders, journalists, Christians, and Druze — and don’t forget their savagery in Syria, killing tens of thousands of Palestinians at the order of Syria’s Assad.
Still, the open criticism of Hezbollah’s reign of terror by leading Lebanese from all religious backgrounds signals the possibility that Iran’s grip over Lebanon may finally be coming to an end.
Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Senior Fellow Hany Ghoraba is an Egyptian writer, political and counter-terrorism analyst at Al Ahram Weekly, and a regular contributor to the BBC. He is the author of Egypt’s Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy He is a writer and contributor for over a dozen international outlets, periodicals and networks including Newsmax, OANN, BBC Radio, CSP, MEF, American Spectator, American Thinker, Arab Weekly, and Al Arabiya News. A different version of this article was first published by IPT.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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