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Hizbullah's Surrender of Ali Al Taher Has Cost It Legitimacy in Lebanon
(The National-UAE) Michael Young - The Ali Al Taher ridge, which overlooks the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, housed an extensive tunnel network and an operational Hizbullah command center. The Lebanese government had asked Hizbullah to hand it over to the Lebanese army instead of allowing Israel to occupy it. Hizbullah refused to comply, seeing this as an unwelcome precedent for similar handovers in other parts of Lebanon at a time when the Lebanese authorities seek to impose a monopoly over weapons. Even if many in the Shiite community continue to sympathize with Hizbullah, all of the Shiite-majority villages in the Lebanon-Israel border area have been razed by the Israelis. It is unknown whether the Shiite community can continue to support the group when the Israeli response has already swallowed an area seen as the heart and soul of the community's presence in Lebanon. While there have been reports of Iran trying to rearm the group through smuggling networks in Syria, and sending funds through regional countries, this seems hardly enough to turn it into the fighting force it once was. Hizbullah can engage in small operations against Israeli forces, but for now these are highly unlikely to change much, given Israel's technological superiority. However, Hizbullah's major problem remains one of national legitimacy. The group worked hard over the decades to anchor its anti-Israel stance in a national consensus, which was formally approved in government statements endorsing the role of the resistance. This is no longer present, as many Lebanese now consider the group to be an Iranian proxy force that has led their country to disaster.