TerrorismBeirut car bomb exposes Hezbollah’s weakening position in Lebanon

In yet another sign of Hezbollah’s weakening position in Lebanon, a powerful car bomb exploded near the organization’s political headquarters in the Haret Hreik district of the suburb of Dahiyeh, the well-guarded Shi’a section in southern Beirut.

The attack, which killed five and injured dozens, is the fifth such attack since July.

Hezbollah, with the help of Iran, has created a state-within-a-state in Lebanon, with its own foreign and defense policy. As long as the organization’s activities were directed at Israel, its independence from Lebanon’s governmental institutions was grudgingly tolerated.

In May, however, acting on Iran’s orders, Hezbollah became involved in the Syrian civil war. It sent thousands of its members to fight against the Syrian rebels in order to save the Assad regime in Syria. Hundreds of its fighters, and dozens of its commanders, have already died in Syria, and funerals for the dead are now a daily event in Shi’a villages and towns in Lebanon.

Analysts say that this strategic decision by the organization’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, fatally undermined Hezbollah in Lebanon and invalidated its claims to be the protector of Lebanon because it proved three things: Hezbollah was not much more than an instrument of Iran’s foreign policy; it was more loyal to its Shi’a identity than Lebanese interests; and it was willing to sacrifice Lebanon and its welfare in the pursuit of Iran’s policy goals and Shi’a regional claims.

Hezbollah’s decision to intervene in the Syrian civil war on behalf of Assad thus served to expose the organization’s true identity and purpose, emboldening the organization’s Lebanese opponents – mostly Sunnis, but also Christians and Druze – to take advantage of the organization’s growing involvement in Syria. There has been a growing wave of attacks on the organization’s positions and officials, and powerful car bombs managed to find their way and explode deep inside the Dahiyeh neighborhood.

The Guardian reports that the increasing frequency of the attacks has instilled widespread fear among Hezbollah’s supporters and those who live in areas protected by Hezbollah and other Shia militias.

A blast in July which wounded at least fifty people was followed on 15 August by an attack that killed at least twenty. In November, twin suicide bombers targeted the Iranian embassy, killing another twenty-three people, including an Iranian diplomat (see “Al Qaeda-linked Lebanese group attacks Iran’s Beirut embassy,” HSNW, 20 November 2013).

Last month, a senior Hezbollah figure, Hassan Laqqis, who directed logistics for the organization, was assassinated by gunmen using silenced weapons outside his Beirut apartment (see ‘Hezbollah No. 3 commander gunned down in Beirut,” HSNW, 5 December 2013).

Hezbollah’s decision to intervene in Syria backfired on the organization in yet another way: Saudi Arabia has now decided dramatically to increase its support for those forces in Lebanon fighting to destroy the Shi’a organization.

Two examples of Saudi Arabia’s growing involvement in Lebanon against Hezbollah and Hezbollah’ supporters:

• The Lebanon authorities on Monday have captured a Saudi national, Majed al-Majed, the leader of the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda-affiliated Lebanese Sunni group. He is being questioned about the Iranian embassy bombing, for which his group claimed responsibility.
• Last Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it would give Lebanon $3 billion to bolster the strength of the Lebanese army so it could counter the military capabilities of Iran-supplied Hezbollah.