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LBCI
3 days ago
- General
- LBCI
Behind closed doors: UN envoy meets Hezbollah official to discuss Resolution 1701 and Israeli violations
Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi In a discreet meeting held at an undisclosed time and place, Hezbollah's Coordination and Liaison Unit chief, Wafiq Safa, met with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, to discuss key issues surrounding U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. According to Hezbollah, the primary focus of the meeting was the implementation of Resolution 1701, with Safa reiterating the group's commitment to the framework while presenting what he described as ongoing Israeli violations of the accord. The conversation reportedly expanded to include the upcoming renewal of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, which is scheduled for a vote at the end of August. Israel is said to be applying pressure to prevent the renewal or at least reduce the mission's mandate. The meeting also addressed concerns over potential escalation along the southern border and emphasized the need for all parties to adhere to Resolution 1701 to maintain regional stability strictly. While Hezbollah insisted the meeting was part of routine coordination and not intended for message delivery or backchannel negotiations, the involvement of Hennis-Plasschaert—who previously served as the Netherlands' first female defense minister and U.N. Special Representative for Iraq—adds weight to the encounter. Her presence suggests a deeper diplomatic interest, especially given the current tensions and Israeli pressure on both Hezbollah and the U.N. mission. No official statement has been issued from the U.N. envoy's office regarding the meeting or its contents. However, the mere occurrence of such a meeting is seen by some observers as potentially significant, raising questions about whether Plasschaert was seeking to convey specific international concerns or simply assessing Hezbollah's position amid mounting geopolitical pressure.
Middle East Eye
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Hezbollah: No disarmament talks unless Israel ends attacks and withdraws
A senior Hezbollah figure has made it clear the group will not consider handing over its weapons to the Lebanese army unless Israel halts its military assault and pulls back from the country's south. 'This is not about disarmament,' Wafiq Safa told Al Nur radio. 'What the president [Joseph Aoun] said in his inauguration speech is a defensive strategy.' Hezbollah and Israel have faced off in repeated cross-border exchanges, especially since Israel's war on Gaza reignited tensions. A ceasefire deal reached in November paused more than a year of clashes, including two months of intense fighting. Israel has broken the ceasefire hundreds of times, according to the UN. Safa said the group has already shared its stance with Aoun, who recently pledged to make 2025 the year all arms fall under state control. 'Wouldn't it be logical for Israel to first withdraw, then release the prisoners, then cease its aggression … and then we discuss a defensive strategy?' he asked.
Shafaq News
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Hezbollah rules out disarmament until full Israeli withdrawal
Shafaq News/ Hezbollah disarmament is off the table unless Israel fully withdraws from southern Lebanon and halts its ongoing violations of the ceasefire agreement, a Hezbollah official announced on Friday. The Head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit Wafiq Safa told Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Nour Radio, 'What President Joseph Aoun referred to is the defensive strategy,' explaining that the aim is to agree on a national defense strategy to protect Lebanon, not leading Hezbollah to surrender its weapons. Both the Lebanese army and Hezbollah are abiding by the ceasefire agreement, particularly the dismantling of military infrastructure and the seizure of Hezbollah arms south of the Litani River, he confirmed, adding, 'What is required of Hezbollah under UN Resolution 1701 has been fulfilled.' Regarding weapons found by the army he revealed that they are either remnants of Israeli strikes or effectively unusable. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP earlier this month that around 265 Hezbollah military sites were identified south of the Litani, of which approximately 190 have been handed over to the Lebanese army. The Beirut government faces mounting US pressure to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure following its recent war with Israel, which inflicted major losses on the group's leadership and armed capabilities. While the agreement also required Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory it occupied during the conflict, Israeli forces have maintained positions in five strategic hilltops, citing security concerns and continued cross-border threats.
Arab News
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Hezbollah can rebuild and it will be disastrous for Lebanon
As expected, Israel refused to fully withdraw from Lebanon on Feb. 18, leaving its forces in five border areas. Maintaining the occupation in this way is exactly the breath of life Hezbollah needs to revive itself. On Feb. 23, Hezbollah held the funeral of its secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sept. 27 last year. The funeral was an occasion for the group to show it still commanded strong support among the Shiite community. Wafiq Safa, the official in charge of the group's coordination and liaison unit, said a few weeks ago that Hezbollah would emerge stronger than it was before. He could be right. It was born out of the grievances caused by the Israeli invasion in 1982. Now, Israel has created enough hatred and pain to give the group exactly the boost it needs to rebuild itself. Prior to withdrawing from the areas they did leave, Israeli forces made sure to burn the houses they had not already destroyed. Towns close to the border, such as Kfar Kela, were razed to the ground. Southern Lebanon is an agrarian society; the people there make a living from the crops they farm. Israel bombed the south with phosphorus bombs to ensure those people would no longer be able to cultivate their land. Israeli authorities are attempting to create an undeclared 'no-man's land,' a buffer zone along the border with Lebanon. They hope that because of all the destruction, people will be discouraged from returning home. Through this buffer zone and control of five strategic points along the border, Israel thinks it can guarantee the security of its settlements in Galilee. In addition, the Israelis think that their presence within Lebanese borders means they will be able to move freely there and target anyone they want. A few days ago, for example, Israeli forces carried out a drone attack in Saida in which they assassinated a Hamas operative. Their reconnaissance and surveillance drones and planes can breach and roam Lebanese airspace as they please. From time to time, they fly at low altitude and break the sound barrier, creating fear and anxiety among the Lebanese people. Why would they not? Israeli authorities see no restrictions on their actions. They can do whatever they want. They broke all international laws in Gaza and faced no repercussions, so why not in Lebanon? However, the Israelis underestimate the urge this is fueling among the Lebanese to fight back, especially among Shiites, whose homes and land have been devastated. This is something Hezbollah, weakened as it is, can use to its advantage. To fully understand the group's fall, one should understand its rise. Hezbollah was created out of a need to fight an Israeli occupation. It evolved from small, random groups into a formidable, well-organized guerrilla force that could spread fear among the generals in Tel Aviv. Of course, its creation came three years after the Iranian revolution, and directly after the Israeli invasion of Beirut. The rise of Hezbollah was considered the first export of Iran's revolution to the Arab world and it was successful mainly because of the indigenous need to fight the Israeli occupation. For the sake of stability, Israel must withdraw and the Lebanese state must be strengthened. Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib After Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah lost its raison d'etre as a resistance organization. Following the withdrawal of Syrian forces in 2005, the group entered politics. Its members felt they had to because they had lost their Syrian sponsor. Political power represented a tool with which to protect their arms; they did not want a government in place they could not control, which might ask them to disarm in compliance with 2004's UN Security Council Resolution 1559 and the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended the civil war in Lebanon. In 2008, Hezbollah tightened its grip on the government through the Doha agreement, signed on May 21 that year, which was designed to end an 18-month political crisis during which the weapons the group had been pointing at the Israelis were turned on their fellow Lebanese. On May 7, 2008, Hezbollah had taken Beirut by force. It became part of the country's corrupt political structure. The arms that had been protecting Lebanon from Israeli aggression were now the main protectors of the political elite and their corruption. The more the group's legitimacy was eroded, the more brutal it became, domestically. It suppressed dissent, whether through assassinations or by crushing the public protests that erupted in 2019, demanding the dismantling of a corrupt political system. The group had morphed from a clean resistance organization comprising a tight-knit group of dedicated people to a more mafia-like structure. It became involved in drug production and trafficking along with the Assad family. It started to become a conglomerate inside Lebanon. It owned a bank and various businesses. Somehow it began to mimic the corrupt Lebanese political system, and became its main patron. As it expanded in the region, however, Hezbollah made too many enemies. While the group enjoyed some degree of Arab acquiescence while fighting Israel, it lost whatever legitimacy it had in the Arab world when it entered Syria and acted like a proxy of Iran as part of the latter's quest for regional domination. The Israeli attack on Hezbollah last year using booby-trapped pagers and other communication devices, and the wider recent war on Lebanon, were a wake-up call for the group and its surviving leaders. They realized they had overstretched themselves by interfering in other countries in the region. The only way for Hezbollah to rebuild itself, then, is to return to its origins as an armed resistance to an Israeli occupation. The grievances in southern Lebanon are strong enough to fuel this project. Wafiq Safa was not entirely wrong, therefore, when he predicted that Hezbollah would eventually emerge stronger than it was before. However, this would be a very dangerous development as it would lead to another war. The authorities in Israel at present are unhinged, buttressed by a permissive administration in the US. This means that if any resistance does arise, the response from the Israelis will be extremely destructive to Lebanon. The US should be wise enough to realize that the continuing presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon, and their operations there with the aim of killing every member of Hezbollah, will only strengthen the group in the long run. For the sake of stability, Israel must withdraw and the Lebanese state must be strengthened. If this is done, Hezbollah will eventually be decommissioned as an armed movement. • Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.
Ya Libnan
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Hezbollah's Focus on Lebanon's Interior: A Threat to the Nation?
By: Ya Libnan Editorial Board Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah's security chief, confirmed today in an interview with Al-Mayadeen that 'Hezbollah's power will return stronger than before, and the focus will now be on the interior.' His statement signals a dangerous shift in Hezbollah's strategy—one that threatens Lebanon's already fragile stability. Safa also downplayed the significance of leadership change after the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, stating that Hezbollah is 'an approach, a project, an organization, and a nation.' However, this declaration serves only to reinforce Hezbollah's dominance over Lebanon, positioning it as a state within a state. Furthermore, he suggested that Israel's objectives expanded following Nasrallah's assassination and accused Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, of reaching out to certain Lebanese factions. But history has shown that Hezbollah has long turned its weapons inward against the Lebanese people, exploiting crises to tighten its grip on power. A History of Hezbollah's Betrayal This is not the first time Hezbollah has directed its weapons against Lebanon's own citizens: 2006 : Following its war with Israel, Hezbollah occupied downtown Beirut—Lebanon's economic and cultural showcase—crippling businesses and tourism. : Following its war with Israel, Hezbollah occupied downtown Beirut—Lebanon's economic and cultural showcase—crippling businesses and tourism. 2008 : Hezbollah seized control of West Beirut by force and attempted, but failed, to overrun the Chouf region of Mount Lebanon. : Hezbollah seized control of West Beirut by force and attempted, but failed, to overrun the Chouf region of Mount Lebanon. 2019 : Nasrallah openly declared his allegiance to Iran's Supreme Leader, solidifying Hezbollah's role as an extension of Iran rather than a protector of Lebanon. : Nasrallah openly declared his allegiance to Iran's Supreme Leader, solidifying Hezbollah's role as an extension of Iran rather than a protector of Lebanon. 2020: The catastrophic Beirut Port explosion, caused by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate illegally stored by Hezbollah, devastated the capital, killing hundreds and destroying Lebanon's only grain silos. The chemicals were allegedly intended for the Syrian regime's barrel bombs against civilians. File : Masked Hezbollah fighters as they march through a suburb of Beirut in May 2008 , when the party occupied a large section of Beirut . and tried but failed to occupy Mount Lebanon. The majority of the Lebanese now consider the heavily armed and Iran backed militia as the biggest threat to Lebanon's sovereignty Lebanon's Shiites Deserve Better For decades, Hezbollah has dragged Lebanon into war, subjected the Shiite community to destruction, and prioritized Iran's agenda over Lebanon's interests. Today, thousands of Shiite homes lie in ruins due to Hezbollah's reckless military campaigns. The Lebanese Shiite community—respected for its resilience and contributions—can no longer afford to bear the cost of Hezbollah's actions. This August 4, 2020 file photo, is the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. 220 killed , 7000 Injured , after 2,750 Tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate Exploded . They were stored there for nearly 7 years. . President Michel Aoun and PM Diab knew about the Ammonium Nitrate 2 weeks before the explosion but did nothing about it . Judge Fadi Sawan who was initially in charge of the investigation was fired for charging Hezbollah backed Lebanese government officials with negligence over the explosion . Judge Tarek Bitar replaced Judge Sawan and Hezbollah got him fired too , reportedly because it is concerned about exposing its role in supplying the Syrian government with the explosive chemical for use in its barrel bombs (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, Beirut, Lebanon(Photo by Anwar Amro/AFP) It is time for Lebanon's Shiites to rise and demand new leadership—leaders who will rebuild rather than destroy, unify rather than divide, and prioritize Lebanon over foreign allegiances. The country's future depends on breaking free from Hezbollah's stranglehold and restoring Lebanon's sovereignty.
