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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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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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