BEIRUT — The Israeli regime has expanded the scope of its strikes on the eve of the visit of Thomas Barrack – the U.S. Special Envoy to Syria - to Beirut to receive Lebanon’s official response to his proposal.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that the Israeli raid on the south resulted in the injury of 10 citizens, including a child who had to be admitted to intensive care. Villages in Baalbek were also targeted.

Besides, an Israeli military unit also infiltrated the town of Kfar Kila (to a depth of approximately 400 meters). Another unit infiltrated the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab.

Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that Hezbollah agrees to hand over its weapons then who will protect Hezbollah’s cadres and community? What about the sanctions that will follow on its financial, service, social, and educational institutions? Who will guarantee a halt to the Israeli invasion of border villages? Who will ensure reconstruction?

Lebanon’s anti-Resistance team deliberately ignore these crucial questions, lest they give the Resistance a justification not only for preserving its weapons, but also for silencing those demanding a national defense strategy that thwarts external threats.

This team neither cares about Israel’s ongoing transgressions (more than 4,000), nor its violation of commitments to UN agreements and international law. Rather, it is pushing hard to strip Hezbollah of its strength and power.

They are resorting to any means to counter Hezbollah.

Obviously, Hezbollah options are extremely dear and costly, as Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem has admitted in his recent speeches, but the option of confrontation is easier than the option of humiliating submission and free surrender.

Hezbollah is caught between surrendering its weapons and retaining them. While Hezbollah is reviewing its policies and preparing to make the most dangerous decisions of its history, it is well aware that other alternatives may entail unexpected surprises. 

Since November 27, 2024, the date of the ceasefire, Hezbollah has demonstrated remarkable flexibility, as attested to by President of the Republic Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, as well as the UNIFIL.

However, Hezbollah’s prudence was not appreciated by those shamefully lining in the U.S.-Israeli camp that portray the Resistance’s weapons as Lebanon’s only dilemma and claim Lebanon will turn into a Singapore-like reality once Hezbollah gives up its weapons.

Hence, the situation in Lebanon is becoming increasingly complex, and the remaining options facing the Resistance are becoming increasingly more limited. 

Hezbollah is fully aware that the strategic factors it is facing, both regionally and internationally, have not remained unchanged, and that despite the deep divisions within Israeli society, there is a consensus to eliminate Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is also aware that the regional environment is not favorable; it is alert to the Arab-American-Israeli rapprochement, which would inevitably grant the aggressor a free pass if the war on Lebanon were to resume under the pretext that Hezbollah has provided the pretext.

Further, Hezbollah have read how Damascus’s collapse to the pro-Israel camp threatens Lebanon, and have reflected on the Sunni leadership’s surrender to takfiri Salafism (Mufti Derian's recent visit to Damascus) after it abandoned—purely under Saudi orders—the rational Sunnism aka political Haririism (the line of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his son Saad Hariri).

It is not just some Sunni leaders who have succumbed to the Arab-American-Israeli desires, some Christian leaders too, blinded by their intense hostility to Hezbollah, are turning a blind eye to the terrorist bombing of St. Elias Church and the annihilation of the Syrian coast.

Unfortunately, a scenario of a resumption of war looms on the horizon under the pretext that “we advised Hezbollah, but it did not heed our advice,” which is per the Resistance’s rhetoric: “We forced you to humiliation, but you resisted.” In any case, Hezbollah and its inner circle are prepared for all eventualities.