"Long viewed as the strongest nonstate armed actor in the region, Hezbollah found its star waning in the past year, culminating in an international and domestic push for it to disarm entirely. Handled recklessly, analysts believe, pressures to disarm the group could lead it to lash out and create internal strife that could outweigh international and regional pushes."
"Hezbollah's rhetoric remains defiant, and it has promised to reject Lebanese government efforts to disarm it as its current leader, Naim Qassem, reiterated on Saturday to a crowd of thousands of people who had gathered at Nasrallah's tomb to commemorate his assassination. We will never abandon our weapons, nor will we relinquish them, he said to the crowd, adding that Hezbollah would continue to confront any project that serves Israel."
"Hezbollah started trading attacks with Israel on October 8, 2023, the day after the latter launched its war on Gaza. This continued until September 2024 when an Israeli military intensification and subsequent invasion killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon, injured thousands more and displaced hundreds of thousands. By the time a ceasefire was announced on November 27, much of Hezbollah's senior military leadership, including Nasrallah, the group's secretary-general, had been killed by Israel."
A year after Hassan Nasrallah's assassination, Hezbollah is regrouping while weakened and facing international and domestic pressure to disarm. The group can no longer pose a significant threat to Israel but retains the capacity to create chaos and challenge opponents domestically as it seeks political footing to preserve clout. Defiant rhetoric persists, with leaders rejecting Lebanese government disarmament efforts and pledging to keep weapons. Heavy exchanges with Israel from October 2023 through September 2024 caused thousands of Lebanese deaths, injuries and mass displacement and decimated Hezbollah's senior military leadership. Analysts warn that reckless disarmament pressures could provoke lash-outs and internal strife.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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