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Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah
November 30, 2018
Perspectives:
Lebanon and Hezbollah is a UANI
weekly resource highlighting developments in Lebanon and the
activities of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Israel
Israel Reportedly Strikes
Hezbollah Targets in Syria
The Israeli Air Force reportedly struck Hezbollah
targets during an hour-long aerial assault on several positions in
Syria on Thursday. Syrian Step News Agency claimed that
Israeli jets bombed a Hezbollah position in the course of airstrikes
on al-Kiswah, south of Damascus. Earlier reports, including by the BBC,
have indicated that Iran was establishing a permanent military
presence in al-Kiswah. Additionally, according to Sputnik
News Agency, sounds of explosions from the Israeli strikes were
heard near al-Dimas, west of Damascus, on the Beirut-Damascus
Highway. While Sputnik's reports are usually heavily
laden with Russian government propaganda, this particular claim seems
to be credible, given Hezbollah's usage of the Highway to transfer
weapons to its strongholds in Lebanon. It's likely that the explosion
heard near al-Dimas resulted from an Israeli strike on such a weapons
convoy or shipment.
Israel Conducts Training
Exercise Simulating War with Hezbollah and Hamas
Israeli forces began a large-scale military exercise
this week simulating a two-front conflict against Hezbollah in the
north and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel Admits to Sinking
Lebanese Civilian Ship During First Lebanon War
In an investigative report broadcast by Channel
10, Israel admitted its
responsibility for sinking a ship carrying refugees escaping war-torn
Lebanon in 1982. According to the report, during the course of
"Operation Dreyfus," an Israeli Navy submarine positioned
off the coast of Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli mistakenly fired
two torpedoes on the civilian ship carrying the refugees, killing 25
individuals. In the wake of the revelation, the Lebanese Foreign
Ministry issued a statement denying
the possibility that the attack was the result of an Israeli error in
judgment, calling on the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israel.
Hezbollah Transnationally
Hezbollah-Linked Lebanese
Businessman Sentenced to Prison in Paris Drug Trial
Mohammad Noureddine, a 44-year-old businessman with
interests in real estate and jewelry, was sentenced
Wednesday to seven
years in prison by a Paris court. The court convicted Noureddine
of leading a crime-ring that laundered Colombian drug money through
luxury jewelry. Another key figure in the case, Abbas Nasser, was
sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia.
Lebanon Offers Counterterrorism Expertise to African Countries
Abbas Ibrahim, the director of Lebanon's General
Directorate of General Security (GDGS), in a speech this week to
African representatives to a counter-terrorism conference held in
Lebanon, offered his country's counterterrorism expertise. Ibrahim
said he placed the GDGS's administrative services and its expertise,
as well as his own personal services and expertise, at the disposal
of any African country in need. Ibrahim's speech, however, included
an implicit endorsement of Hezbollah's form of terrorism. Al-Liwaa reported Ibrahim
saying, "there are two forms of terrorism: one in which you
terrorize your enemies, and this is not only your right, but your
obligation. Another is one in which you terrorize innocent people,
and this is the lowest form of moral and ideological decline. We
support the first kind of terrorism, we support resisting any enemy
no matter where they are found, whomever tries to subjugate Lebanon
or the Lebanese people, and this is an honor we take upon
ourselves. We support our resistance and this form of our terrorism.
Name it whatever you wish, it is a source of pride for us."
Government Formation
No Solution to Government
Formation Impasse on the Horizon
There were no
indications this week that a solution to the government
formation impasse, caused by the question of representation of the
so-called "Independent Sunnis," - part of the
Hezbollah-aligned, anti-Hariri "March 8" Alliance - in
Prime Minister Hariri's government was on the horizon. And neither
Prime Minister Saad Hariri
nor President Michel Aoun appear
to be in the mood to compromise. Sources within the March 8-Sunni
"bloc" said they
didn't expect a solution to the impasse anytime soon. Other
informed sources told Al-Joumhouria
that no solution to the government formation impasse was on the
horizon, given that Hariri is completely refusing to include a March
8 Sunni in his government at all - whether they take a seat from his
earmarked portion or anyone else's - because he refuses to grant
Hezbollah another ministry through a belatedly contrived bloc.
Future Movement Reiterates
Premier's Refusal
Hariri's Future Movement reiterated
the premier's refusal to contemplate representing the March 8 Sunnis
in his government, and dismissed
the idea that he might meet with them. Meanwhile, the March 8 Sunnis gave
Hariri a 48-hour deadline on Sunday to set a time to meet with them.
After that deadline passed without
a response from Hariri, Faisal Karameh of the "Independent
Sunnis" said he was giving the premier another
chance to meet with them. Karameh added
that his "bloc" was now demanding not only a seat in
Hariri's cabinet, but a Ministry with a portfolio. Hariri remained
defiant in response, saying he would not change his stance. His Future
Movement said
not a single MP from the "Independent Sunnis" would set
foot in Hariri's Bayt al-Wasat compound.
President Aoun Responds to
Impasse
Sources close to President Michel Aoun said
that he thinks all sides need to compromise to solve the government
formation impasse. However, the president does not want the solution
to be at his
own expense, and he is therefore unwilling to make any more
compromises. On the other hand, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri told Al-Joumhouria
he believes that, "logically, the president holds the
key to the solution," and that the concerned parties - Hezbollah
and the "Independent Sunnis" - were not going to back down.
He added that he encouraged Hariri to pick one of the March 8 Sunnis
and solve the impasse. Berri noted later in the week that he could
not predict when a
government would be formed.
Hezbollah Doubles Down on
Representation of March 8 Sunnis "No Matter How Long it
Takes"
Senior Hezbollah officials doubled down this week on
their demand that the pro-Hezbollah March 8 Sunnis be given a
ministry in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government. Hezbollah's
Sheikh Nabil Qaouq - a senior party leader and a member of its
Central Council - said
that the crisis preventing the formation of a new government would
continue so long as Hariri did not acquiesce to granting the
pro-Hezbollah Sunnis a seat in his cabinet. The head of Hezbollah's
"Loyalty to the Resistance" parliamentary bloc Mohammad
Raad denied
both his party's
responsibility for creating the "Sunni
impasse," and even that Hezbollah was a party to the crisis.
Raad also said
that Hezbollah has no problem waiting indefinitely for the formation
of a government, until their demands are met, Al-Manar reported.
"We are the masters of waiting. We've been waiting for 1300 years
for the Mahdi to appear. They tried us when it came to the
presidency," he said, referring to Hezbollah's prevention of a
Lebanese president for more than two years until their choice -
Michel Aoun - was agreed upon.
Sources within Hezbollah's leadership told Al-Joumhouria
that Prime Minister Hariri alone holds the solution to the impasse.
The sources added that, "in the end, [the March 8 Sunnis] will
be represented in the government," regardless of the ferocity of
opposition. Hezbollah also remained
committed to not submitting the names of its Minister to Hariri until
the latter solved the issue of "Independent Sunni"
representation. The party added, however, that they would accept a
compromise solution of giving a portfolio to a Sunni from outside of
the "Independent Sunnis" bloc, as long as the group
accepted that solution.
Meanwhile, Ashraf Rifi - Lebanon's former Justice
Minister and a Hariri-ally-turned-rival - stressed
his complete support for Hariri in confronting what he called
"Hezbollah's project and conditions." The pro-March 8 Najib
Miqati also came to Hariri's defense,
reiterating his earlier opposition to anyone interfering with the
prime minister's constitutional prerogatives.
Geagea: Form a Government
Without Hezbollah
Lebanese Forces party's chairman Samir
Geagea called
on President Aoun and Prime Minister Hariri to swear in a government
without Hezbollah or the Amal Movement - which, alone, have yet to
submit the names of their ministers. Lebanese Forces MP Joseph Ishaq seconded
Geagea's sentiment, calling on Aoun and Hariri to form a government
without Hezbollah.
Lebanese Foreign Relations
Nizar Zakka Calls Lebanese
Officials on Independence Day
Nizar Zakka - a Lebanese citizen and U.S. permanent
resident imprisoned in Iran on espionage charges since 2015 - phoned
the offices of senior Lebanese officials on Lebanon's Independence Day.
According to Al-Joumhouria, Zakka managed to call the
offices of the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the
Parliament, asking all three to intercede on his behalf and secure
his release from prison in Iran.
New Saudi Ambassador Arrives in
Lebanon
Saudi Arabia's newly appointed ambassador to Lebanon,
Walid Abdullah al-Bukhari, arrived
in Beirut on Thursday to assume his post.
Lebanon-Russia Military Deal
A high-ranking Lebanese political source told Reuters that,
this month, Beirut had rejected a long-standing military grant from
Russia, claiming the U.S. pressured Lebanon to do so.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri's media office issued a
statement denying that
Lebanon had rejected the Russian military aid, saying that Moscow's
military package would be used to support Lebanon's Internal Security
Forces.
U.S. CENTCOM Commander to Arrive
in Lebanon
Diplomatic sources told Al-Joumhouria
that U.S. CENTCOM Commander General Joseph Votel was scheduled to
arrive in Beirut today, accompanied by one of his aides, and would
meet with high-ranking Lebanese officials. General Votel is expected
to discuss regional security matters and continued US military aid to
the Lebanese Armed Forces with Lebanese officials. Votel arrives less
than a week after a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for the
Levant Joel Rayburn. During that visit, Rayburn warned
against giving Hezbollah "any additional political
gains," saying it could affect U.S. military aid to Lebanon, or
support to Lebanon via the CEDRE conference.
Lebanese Security
Interior Minister: Lebanon's
Security Situation is Excellent
Lebanon's caretaker Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said
in a press conference that "Lebanon is enjoying an unparalleled
state of security. We are currently living a security and social
success story that must be studied by others." Machnouk
attributed Lebanon's positive security situation to President Michel
Aoun's commitment to fighting terrorism, and to "national
cohesiveness."
Lebanon Foils Attempt to Smuggle
Drugs to Saudi Arabia via Hariri International Airport
Al-Joumhouria reported
that, last Thursday, Lebanese security officials from the ISF
succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of drugs
from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia via Beirut's Rafic Hariri International
Airport.
Lebanese Army Detains Hundreds
of Syrians in Raids on Eastern Bekaa Refugee Camps
The Lebanese army detained 400 Syrians in raids
on refugee camps in the eastern Bekaa Valley, mostly for overstaying
the period permitted by their residency permits.
Hezbollah Domestically
Naim Qassem: U.S. Can't Force
Iran to Change
Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said
that the United States was powerless to change Iran's actions. He
also said that
U.S. sanctions would fail to curb Iran's support for the
"resistance."
Protests Erupt in Lebanon Over
Insulting Remarks Against Hariri
Several roads were blocked in Lebanon's capital of
Beirut starting on Tuesday in protest against insulting remarks by
ex-MP Wiam Wahhab against Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Wahhab, who has
a reputation as an agitator, lashed out repeatedly, saying among
other things that the premier would not have been appointed "as
a building janitor" had his father not been the late Prime
Minister Rafic Hariri. Two days later, a video leaked of Wahhab insulting
Saad Hariri's father.
On Thursday, Wahhab apologized for the video, but said
it was a rash response to street banners that surfaced in Sunni
strongholds Beirut and Tripoli attacking Wahhab. However, he added
that he was filing a lawsuit against Saad Hariri and "his
aides" over the banners, claiming they contained death threats
against him. However, a group of lawyers hit back against Wahhab,
filing a criminal complaint
accusing him of "incitement and agitating against domestic
peace."
Wahhab was not alone in attacking Hariri. MPs close to
Hezbollah - including party member Hassan Fadlallah and pro-Hezbollah
Sunni al-Walid Sukkariyeh - also lashed out against Hariri in recent
days. The verbal attacks on Hariri also extended to his late father,
with two Hezbollah MPs and Sukkariyeh attacking Rafic Hariri's
economic policies.
Hariri's Future Movement hit
back, accusing
Hezbollah of launching a "hate campaign" against the prime
minister, urging the Shiite party to "watch the tongue of its
allies." Future also denied
responsibility for the street protests, and called on party supporters to
clear the streets.
Several March 14-aligned politicians have come out in
support of Hariri, including
Walid
Joumblatt and Lebanese
Forces Chairman Samir Geagea. Geagea
said that the real target of the attacks was not Saad or
Rafic Hariri, but the Lebanese state itself. Ashraf
Rifi also came
out in support of Hariri, saying "the insults against
the martyred Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and his family, and against
Said Hariri, is criminal behavior of the same type that physically
murdered the martyr [Rafic Hariri], and now haunts his family with
character assassination."
Despite its MPs being involved in the attacks on Hariri,
Hezbollah has denied any responsibility
for the defamation campaign,
and claimed that "despite the Future Movement's campaigns
against us, Hezbollah still wants Hariri as Prime
Minister."
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