Is Hezbollah sincere in ceding ‘resistance’ to Lebanon’s government?

DUBAI: Thousands gathered in Beirut on Sunday to mourn Hezbollah’s founding leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as his body was finally laid to rest nearly five months after his killing. The elaborate funeral, held under the watchful eye of Israeli fighter jets overhead, served as a stark reminder of the Iran-backed group’s ongoing conflict with Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz made it clear that figures like Nasrallah would continue to meet their demise, stating: “You will specialize in funerals, and we will in victories.”

Last November, Hezbollah’s new leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, pledged to coordinate closely with the Lebanese army to implement a ceasefire deal between the governments of Lebanon and Israel. “There will be high-level coordination between the Resistance (Hezbollah) and the Lebanese army to implement the commitments of the deal,” he said in an address to supporters.

But as the dust settles from Nasrallah’s funeral, a critical question emerges: Is Hezbollah truly committed to ceding control of “resistance” to the Lebanese state, as many assumed?

Long the dominant force in Lebanon, Hezbollah suffered heavy losses during its 14-month conflict with Israel from Oct. 8, 2023, the day after a Hamas-led attack by Palestinian militants on Israel. Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, 2024, when Israeli forces bombed a building in southern Beirut where he was meeting with Hezbollah commanders.

What made matters worse was the fall in December of ally Bashar Assad in Syria, a reliable conduit for Middle East militant groups for weapons from Iran.

It is undeniable that Hezbollah is facing mounting challenges. A recent Wall Street Journal report cited an anonymous source close to Hezbollah as saying that fighters not originally from the south had been told to vacate their positions and that the Lebanese Armed Forces would be allowed to take control of the area as per the terms of the ceasefire.

The source also said the war had emptied Hezbollah’s coffers, making it impossible for it to fulfill its financial obligations to the families of slain soldiers, and supporters who lost their businesses and homes during the war.

The WSJ report also quoted residents as saying that Al-Qard Al-Hassan, Hezbollah’s primary financial institution, had “frozen payments for compensation checks that had already been issued.”

At the same time, Israel has extended its presence in five strategic positions on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line, citing security concerns. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, described it as a “temporary measure” to protect displaced northern Israeli communities.

Lebanese officials, however, view it as an “occupation” and are engaged in diplomatic efforts with Washington and Paris to secure a full Israeli withdrawal.

In his televised address to mourners on Sunday, Qassem vowed to continue in his predecessor’s footsteps, asserting that “the resistance is not over.” He accused the Lebanese government of bowing to American pressure, particularly in preventing two Iranian planes from landing at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.

That decision, reportedly influenced by US warnings of an imminent Israeli strike, sparked protests, with Hezbollah supporters storming the streets and attacking a UN convoy, injuring two peacekeepers.

The attack on UNIFIL peacekeepers prompted swift condemnation. President Joseph Aoun called it a “flagrant violation of international law” and vowed that security forces would act against those destabilizing the country. Meanwhile, Hezbollah dismissed the government’s actions as merely following “an Israeli order.”

Lebanon’s new government finds itself in a precarious position, balancing the need for international credibility with the reality of Hezbollah’s entrenched power.

On Tuesday, Lebanon’s parliament began a two-day debate on the government’s ministerial statement, which sets out the objectives of the new administration.

Opening the debate, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated the state’s monopoly on the use of force, emphasizing the need to enforce UN Resolution 1701, which calls for Hezbollah’s disarmament south of the Litani River, and to his commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, meanwhile, called for national unity, warning that “if the state fails to act, alternative forces will take over.”

In a sign that Hezbollah is perhaps willing to work with the new administration for the collective good of Lebanon, Mohammad Raad, head of the group’s parliamentary bloc, issued a statement on Tuesday in support of Salam’s government.

“We give our confidence to the government,” said Raad, expressing hope the new administration would “succeed in opening the doors to real rescue for the country.”

“We are keen on cooperating to the greatest extent to preserve national sovereignty and its stability and achieve reforms and take the state forward,” he added.

While Prime Minister Salam has reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701, there is little indication that the state can enforce this mandate without Hezbollah’s consent.

“The current government has a limited life and has several priorities; implementing the ceasefire agreement is at the top of them,” Nadim Shehadi, an economist and political adviser, told Arab News.

“How quick this will be is as much a logistical as it is a political question. It is wrong to assume that the Lebanese army can disarm Hezbollah without its political consent. There are competing interpretations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Shehadi added: “Nasrallah’s funeral on Sunday was significant. It was a political show of force accompanied by a defiantly uncompromising speech by Qassem.”

The US has made clear its stance on Hezbollah’s disarmament, tying Lebanon’s financial aid to progress on this front. The Trump administration recently froze all foreign aid through the State Department and USAID, citing misalignment with US interests.

In 2024, Lebanon received $219 million from USAID and an additional $17 million from the State Department. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend aid was seen by many as a means to pressure Lebanon into fully implementing Resolution 1701 and preventing Hezbollah’s rearmament.

“American aid cuts are less chaotic than expected and are in fact linked to performance. The devil is everywhere, including the details,” Shehadi said. “Given the amount of bureaucracy involved and the immensity of cuts that the administration is carrying out across the board, one worries more about the implementation than about the principle.”

Hezbollah’s massive turnout for Nasrallah’s funeral underscored its continued influence. “Our struggle in support of Gaza is part of our faith in the liberation of Palestine,” Qassem, the new Hezbollah chief, told the mourners.

“We confront the Zionist regime and its supporter, the great tyrant, the US, which is conspiring against Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran.”

By contrast, President Aoun told a visiting Iranian delegation that was in Beirut for the funeral that Lebanon was “tired” of external conflicts playing out on its territory. “Lebanon has grown tired of the wars of others on its land,” he said, according to an official statement.

“Countries should not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”

In a recent op-ed for Arab News, Dania Koleilat Khatib, a specialist in US-Arab relations, said: “The US should be wise enough to realize that the continued presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon and their operations aimed at eliminating Hezbollah members will only strengthen the group in the long run.

“For stability, Israel must withdraw, and the Lebanese state must be strengthened. If this happens, Hezbollah will eventually be decommissioned as an armed movement.”

Despite Hezbollah’s assurances that it would coordinate closely with the Lebanese government to implement the ceasefire, its words and actions tell a different story.

Even now, it remains Lebanon’s most powerful armed entity, seen by its critics as undermining the state’s sovereignty while blaming external actors for its challenges.

The group’s financial troubles may weaken it in the long term, but for now its grip on Lebanon’s security landscape appears as firm as ever.

Whether the Lebanese government can assert full control over national defense — or whether Hezbollah will remain a state within a state — remains an open and pressing question.