The Islamist movement, supported by Iran, has been weakened following the strikes and operations carried out by Israel in recent weeks. Several Hezbollah executives were killed and infrastructure destroyed.
Three days after the ceasefire with Israel, signed on the evening of Tuesday, November 26, and a little over two months after the start of Israeli bombings, what remains of Hezbollah?
Since October 8, 2023, the Islamist movement has opened a second front in order to support its Palestinian ally, Hamas, in open conflict with Israel after the massacres of October 7. From September 23, the IDF intensified its bombings on Lebanon and particularly on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah. On September 30, Israel began a ground operation in southern Lebanon to push the Islamist movement from its border.
Nearly 100,000 homes to be rebuilt in Lebanon
Nearly two months later, Hezbollah is particularly weakened. Some leaders of the Islamist movement cite the figure of 4,000 members of the organization killed in fighting in recent months. Among the victims of the Israeli strikes are many senior officials including Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Iran-backed organization. For its part, the Israeli army claims to have destroyed numerous tunnels and weapons caches.
“Hezbollah is extremely weakened by the Israeli operation but it has not disappeared. It is estimated that Hezbollah's military capabilities have been reduced by around 70%,” judges David Rigoulet-Roze, editor-in-chief of the magazine Orients Stratégiques.
The explosion of pagers and then walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah in mid-September also left its mark, in addition to injuring hundreds of members of the movement. “We are moving to another era, in particular with a probably generational renewal. We must bear in mind that Hezbollah is a Lebanese party (…) It is not a foreign body, it remains a component of Lebanese society “, recalls David Rigoulet-Roze.
In Lebanon, the damage is considerable. Nearly 100,000 homes need to be rebuilt for an amount estimated at 2.6 billion euros according to the World Bank.
“Just as her community has been loyal, we, the resistance, will remain loyal to her. We will rebuild the southern suburbs, we will rebuild everything that was destroyed in Lebanon, we will work to shelter the families who lost their homes” , promised Mahmoud Qomati, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council.
All this did not prevent the movement supported by Tehran from “proclaiming” its victory against Israel this Wednesday, affirming that the Israeli forces failed in their “attempts (…) to occupy and settle in cities”.
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