Hezbollah has been reduced to asking the Republic of Lebanon to stop Israeli attacks on its sites. The group has continued to suffer losses in the seven months since a ceasefire in November.
Israel recently carried out a strike on Beirut, for instance, targeting a drone manufacturing factory.
Hassan Fadlallah, a member of the Lebanese Parliament, represents the Bint Jbeil district. He was quoted in Al Akhbar media in Lebanon as saying that “the state can mobilize its forces to stop Israeli attacks.”
Al Akhbar reported that Fadlallah is a member of the “resistance bloc” in the Lebanese Parliament, a euphemism for Hezbollah and its allies.
He “believes that the Israeli enemy is currently benefiting from the state’s inability to find the necessary formulas for protection, deterrence, and confrontation,” the report said.
Al Akhbar is generally regarded as a pro-Hezbollah media outlet.
The Lebanese politician was taking part in a ceremony for a Lebanese “martyr,” senior Hezbollah commander Abu Taleb, who was responsible for southern Lebanon and was killed last June.
Taleb was killed along with other senior members in a strike by Israel, Ynet reported at the time.
As for Fadlallah, he said, “While we are not calling on the state today to confront [Israel] militarily due to the lack of military balance, it can mobilize all its political, popular, security, and media-based power to pressure the sponsoring states to halt the attacks.”
He added, “They talk about the ministerial statement and commitment to it, while the statement itself discusses protecting Lebanese sovereignty, reconstruction, and the state’s responsibility for protecting its borders and deterring aggressors.”
Fadlallah went on to say that “what concerns us is that the state, through its institutions, takes all the possible steps to protect its citizens.
“The positions issued by [Lebanon’s leaders] and its army command express the official position of the state, and these positions confirm that [Israel’s] aggression is an assault on all of Lebanon.”
He said this concerns not just Beirut but also parties to the November ceasefire, including the US.
Fadlallah’s comments reveal the extent of Hezbollah’s concern today. It is worried that many things are in motion against it.
Weakened in the war, it does not respond to Israel’s strikes. The Jewish state feels it has free rein now over Lebanon. Hezbollah has also seen shipments of weapons stopped in Syria. It can’t replenish its stocks. However, it appears to continue to work on the manufacturing of drones and other weapons.
The Hezbollah politician said that parts of Lebanon were “betting on Israeli aggression to achieve gains at home. They have not learned from past experiences, and they are delusional and mistaken, and they will reap the results of these delusions.”
Hezbollah seeking a 'new equation'
Fadlallah continued his discussion about the future. “We are going through difficulties and a new phase, but this is not the end of the road,” he said.
He also discussed the new “equation” that Hezbollah wants to have, given the new circumstances. In the past, this “equation” referred to the fact that Hezbollah would respond in a tit for tat manner to Israeli strikes.
“We are also in a complex regional environment,” Fadlallah said. Hezbollah and its supporters would endure, he added.
Hezbollah is laying the foundation for long-term recovery. These kinds of comments are designed to illustrate this.
Fadlallah’s remarks also demonstrate that Hezbollah is currently interested in Lebanon defending its interests, as opposed to the old days when Hezbollah claimed it was Beirut’s shield for “resisting” Israel.
In the past, Hezbollah intervened in Syria and attacked Israel, without asking Lebanon’s authorities’ permission. Essentially, the group was far more powerful than the state. Now it is weaker and needs protection so it can regroup.