Lebanese Journalist: Hizbullah, Who Bears Sole Responsibility For The Destruction In Lebanon, Is Selling Its Supporters A False Victory

Since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on November 27, 2024, following more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah, this organization has been presenting itself as the victor and as the only force that prevented Israel from occupying Lebanon. In a speech he delivered on November 29, Hizbullah Secretary-General Na’im Qassem stated that the victory achieved in this war surpasses the one achieved in the 2006 war between Hizbullah and Israel. [1] He repeated this claim in a December 14 speech, in which he explained that Hizbullah won because Israel did not achieve its goal of defeating it.[2]

These statements sparked criticism and scorn from the organization's opponents in Lebanon and abroad, who said that the organization is denying reality and ignoring the fact that it is the one that dragged Lebanon into a deadly war, a war that caused massive destruction to the organization itself and to the country as a whole. Among those who voiced this criticism was Lebanese journalist Fares Khachan, editor and cofounder of Newsalist, a Switzerland-based website created by Lebanese journalists living in Europe. In a December 22 article, he mocked Hizbullah for its persistent efforts to convince its supporters of its victory despite the immense damage and destruction caused to Lebanon by its "arrogant" actions, and despite the fact that the ceasefire agreement allows Israel to do as it pleases in South Lebanon. Khachan also rejected the organization's claim that it and its weapons are Lebanon's only defense. He warned that Hizbullah is trying to avoid disarming as required by the ceasefire agreement in order to continue using its weapons to impose its will in Lebanon.

 
Cartoon posted on X by Lebanese activist Raymond Hakim depicts a bloodied Hizbullah operative saying “We won!” (Image: X.com/RaymondHakim, December 17, 2024)

The following are translated excerpts from Khachan’s article:[3]

"Hezbollah's ideologues are trying to change the lexicon and introduce new definitions for words like ‘victory,’ ‘winning,’ ‘defeat’ and ‘loss.’ They want to play with the head of their supporters, whom they promised construction, protection, [a chance to] pray in Jerusalem, and that the 'Zionist entity' would explode at the press of a button. They do this by giving vague new meanings to clear and well-understood words, in order to distract their supporters and keep them from undertaking an realistic and accurate assessment of the disastrous killing, death, displacement, destruction, humiliation, and surrender.

"Alongside this ridiculous diligence in [rewriting] the lexicon, Hizbullah is trying to blame others – [namely] the people, the army, UNIFIL and the international community – for Israel's continued military and security actions south of the Litani, in order to claim that  the weapons of resistance are [Lebanon’s] only defense, and therefore that they must remain, continue and increase.

“What a distortion [of reality]!

"Hizbullah bears sole responsibility for what Israel is doing. The people did not want war, the state did not decide on it, the army does not have the capabilities [to fight it] and the international community is interested in saving Lebanon from this party [i.e., Hizbullah]. No one [else] lied about his strength or intentions, Hizbullah is the only one that indulged in hyperbole, lies, distortions and arrogance.

"There is no need for strategy experts in order to understand that the ceasefire agreement is a surrender agreement that Hizbullah signed after sustaining a military defeat. The written details [of the agreement], and the unwritten mutual understandings, give the Israeli army two months to complete what it began with the military operation...[4] Hizbullah knew this. It was informed of the details of the talks and agreed to all the articles [of the agreement]. It agreed in advance that Israel would do what it is doing today. Its current complaints [that Israel is violating the agreement] are a deception and an attempt to save what remains of its weapons, so it can use them to impose its equations within Lebanon.

"Hizbullah started the war, considering itself to be the All-Powerful and The Mighty [two of the names of Allah]. It disregarded everyone’s warnings, humiliated those who opposed the military actions it carried out in the name of ‘the unity of the fronts,' rejected all the proposals that could have prevented the war, and brought the Lebanese government to a state of despair with its stubbornness, causing Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati to say, when the situation was on the brink of [explosion], that 'we have no choice but to remain silent, wait patiently and pray.'[5]

"Hizbullah, which accepted this agreement under the attacks that destroyed the Dahiyeh, the Bekaa and South Lebanon, [attacks that] killed thousands of Lebanese and left the fate of hundreds unknown, now wants us to believe its statement that 'the resistance is the only one protecting Lebanon.' It is 'protecting’ [Lebanon] by bringing back the occupation, destroying the country, killing its people and signing an agreement of surrender and defeat!

“This is the protection that Hezbollah is trying to provide to Lebanon..."