In April 2017, rumors circulated about new sanctions to be imposed on Hizballah and its allies by the U.S. Congress and Treasury Department, following the leaking of a draft sanctions bill. This was following their repeated violations of UN Resolution 1701 in South Lebanon as well as involvement in the Syrian civil war. The initial […]
Hizballah Uses Child Fighters: But No Decline in the Movement’s Status in Lebanon
On July 7, 2017, 16-year-old (17 years old according to some reports) Hizballah fighter Mahdi Hassan Abu Hamdan from the town of Taalbaya in the Beq’a Valley, Lebanon, was killed in battle. Following the death of his four brothers while fighting for Hizballah,, Abu Hamdan, technically an only son, was forbidden by the organization’s higher-ups from fighting […]
Israel and Hizballah: The Battle Before the Battle
During the 2006 war beween Israel and Hizballah, Israeli military actions were limited by the broader diplomatic situation. The expulsion of Syria from Lebanon had taken place a year earlier. The government of then prime minister Fuad Siniora in Beirut was considered one of the few successes of the US democracy promotion project in the […]
Saraya Al-Tawheed: A Pro-Assad Druze Militia in Lebanon and Syria
The involvement of the Arab Unity Party- primarily supported by Lebanese Druze opposed to Walid Jumblatt- and its leader Wi’am Wahhab in the Syrian civil war has long been known, as Wahhab and his party have played a role in organizing forces in support of the Assad regime among Syrian Druze. Indeed, the Arab Unity Party has openly identified a militia called the Ammar bin Yasir Battalion as its affiliate operating in Syria, claiming ‘martyrs’…
Reflections on the Second Lebanon War
(An abridged version of this article appeared in the Jerusalem Post, 23/6) 10 years since the Second Lebanon War. For those of us who took part in it, that war remains, always just in view. Like a suitcase filled with … Continue reading →
Sinking in the Syrian Quagmire
Hezbollah remains a powerful foe, but its claim to spearhead the Arab fight against Israel has been dented and its involvement in the Syrian civil war has cost it heavily Speaking at a gathering in southern … Continue reading →
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