A Year After Leader's Death, Hezbollah Begins To Regroup

By Bassem Mroue And Abby Sewell

Beirut- Hezbollah suffered one blow after another during its most recent war with Israel, culminating in the killing of the militant group's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in massive Israeli airstrikes on a Beirut suburb.

The group was weakened militarily and politically. Many of its opponents declared that its days as a dominant regional and local player were over.

But one year later, many of Hezbollah's supporters, enemies and analysts agree in their assessment: It is regrouping.

“The loss of this leader was a very painful blow to Hezbollah,” a senior Hezbollah political official Mohammed Fneish told The Associated Press in the run-up to Saturday's anniversary of Nasrallah's death.

“However, Hezbollah is not a party in the usual sense that when it loses its leader, the party becomes weak,” he said.“In a relatively short period of time, it was able to fill all the positions it lost when (leaders) were martyred, and it continued the confrontation.”

An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously in line with regulations, said in a statement that Hezbollah's“influence has declined considerably” and that“the likelihood of a large-scale attack against Israel is considered low.”

But the statement added that“the organisation is attempting to rebuild its capabilities; efforts are limited but expected to expand.” The military declined to comment on how much of Hezbollah's arsenal of missiles and drones Israel believes remains intact.

'They're rebuilding'

Despite losing most of its top leadership and key communications systems, Hezbollah continued to fight when Israeli troops invaded southern Lebanon last October.

After a US-brokered ceasefire halted the fighting in late November, Israeli forces took control of more territory than they did during the war, and Israel has continued carrying out near-daily airstrikes that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities.

Hezbollah also lost a key route for supplies from its backer, Iran, when the allied government of Bashar Assad in Syria fell in a rebel offensive in December, which Fneish acknowledged was a blow to Hezbollah's“strategic depth.”

The Lebanese government, meanwhile, has said it will work on disarming the group by the end of this year, a key demand of the US and Saudi Arabia before funding reconstruction and a decision Hezbollah has categorically rejected.

Political opponents say the group is in denial about its loss of power.

“Hezbollah's leadership is detached from reality,” said Lebanese lawmaker Elias Hankash, a frequent critic of Hezbollah, who called on it to surrender its weapons and become solely a political party.“Hezbollah did not defend the Lebanese, nor itself, nor its weapons, nor its command.”

But US envoy Tom Barrack cautioned against underestimating the group in an interview with United Arab Emirates-based IMI Media Group:“The Lebanese think Hezbollah is not rebuilding. They're rebuilding.”

The Israeli military official said,“Hezbollah is currently struggling to receive sufficient funding from Iran.”

But Barrack asserted the group, which the US designates a terrorist organisation, is receiving as much as USD 60 million per month from unknown sources. That is despite measures to cut off its funding, including a ban on flights from Iran.

“Hezbollah is our enemy, Iran is our enemy. We need to cut the heads off of those snakes and chop the flow of funds,” Barrack said.

Fneish didn't address the group's funding sources, but said its financial situation is“normal” and its institutions are functioning as before, including healthcare and social services as well as its armed wing.

A post-Nasrallah identity

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