As Israel and Iran’s military confrontation enters its second week (MEES, 20 June), one mainstay in the decades old struggle is notably absent: the Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah. This marks an important change for the region, as Hezbollah has provided a military flank for Iran (and its proxies) in nearly every conflict since its inception in the early 1980s, including the Syrian Civil War, the Israel-Gaza War, and its own wars with Israel.
Hezbollah’s apparent neutrality has largely been met with praise in Lebanon, and it may answer the biggest question mark for the country’s nascent government formed earlier this year. Israel and Hezbollah spent much of 2024 in a war that saw several thousand killed on the Lebanese side, along with a consequential ‘decapitation’ of Hezbollah’s leadership including long-time leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (MEES, 4 October 2024). 2024 also saw Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a key Iran-Hezbollah ally and facilitator of armament supplies from Iran to Lebanon, collapse in stunning fashion (MEES, 13 December 2024). (CONTINUED - 995 WORDS)
