Hezbollah is hurting, but its fighters are ready to join war on Israel
A leading Hezbollah commander has reportedly been assassinated in Israel's deadliest attack on Lebanon in recent days.
Amid its latest conflict with Iran, the Israeli military said it had eliminated a 'threat' by killing Mohammad Ahmad Khreiss in an air strike.
The Israel Defense Forces said he headed an anti-tank unit in southern Lebanon, where the border with Israel remains disputed. Hezbollah has not confirmed his death.
Israel's near-daily attacks have been a breach of a ceasefire agreed with Hezbollah and brokered by the US and France last year.
It came as Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria and ambassador to Turkey, told Hezbollah not to get involved in the fight between Iran and Israel, saying that doing so 'would be a very bad decision'.
He issued the warning during an official visit to Beirut, Lebanon's capital, where the conflict with Iran has raised fears of a renewed war with Israel.
However, Hezbollah, the centrepiece of Iran's 'axis of resistance', has so far resisted getting involved.
The terror group has been decimated by Israeli attacks, including one which killed Hassan Nasrallah, its leader, last September. But supporters say the group is ready to fight if called upon.
Even with its reduced operational capacity, Hezbollah could still mount attacks that would distract and expend Israeli military resources that would otherwise be used in its war against Iran – partly because the group's Lebanon base is the closest in terms of physical proximity to Israel.
Israel's air strikes have hit densely populated urban areas, including Dahieh, a stronghold of Hezbollah, as recently as June 5. At least nine buildings were levelled in the bombing.
The Telegraph visited the area earlier this week under the supervision of a representative from Hezbollah.
'We are with Hezbollah in our hearts,' said Abbas Rachiiene. 'If it gets to a point where we need to get involved, physically and materially, then we will do so. Every time the Israelis hit us, our love for Hezbollah grows even bigger.'
Mr Rachiiene, 39, lost his home two weeks ago when Israeli bombs rained down from the sky, levelling the multi-story apartment block where he lived.
He now climbs atop the rubble daily to assess the progress of the cranes tasked with clearing away the debris so that rebuilding can eventually begin.
'Israel keeps hitting us despite the ceasefire, and I don't know why,' said Amal al-Zeinn, 39, who is overseeing the clean-up operation. 'Israel has no regard for the feelings of the people who lose their homes.'
It is the kind of anger and groundswell of support for Hezbollah that could push its fighters into war against Israel, yet again.
The prospect of being 'martyred' is almost glamorised in posters dotted around Dahieh, put up in memory of young men who died in battle against the 'Zionist enemy'.
There are also pictures of the late Nasrallah too, showing him beam down on the public while flanked by Hezbollah's yellow-and-green flag.
'When the community sees that there is a need for us to get involved, I'm sure we will take it,' said Fauzi Ahmar, 28, a salesman at a shop across the street from where Mr Rachiiene's home was.
'Yes, I believe Hezbollah has the power to fight. We are sure,' said Faten Kheir, 34, a school teacher, who lived in the same building as Mr Rachiiene, and also lost her home.
'Many people will say outwardly – I wish that Hezbollah will not share in the fighting [now], but really, they wish on the inside for Hezbollah to join,' she said, emphasising her point by waving her phone, the back of which held a picture of Nasrallah's hands, instantly recognisable by the iconic ring he used to wear.
On Thursday, Hezbollah issued a statement pledging its continued commitment to Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and stating that it stood by the regime 'in confronting the Israeli-American aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
It added: 'America will soon realise it has plunged into a deep abyss due to its tyrannical support for the brutal Israeli aggression against Gaza, the resistance in the region, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
However, Lebanese ministers have made thinly veiled overtures to Hezbollah to hold fire because the country needs time to rebuild after a crippling economic crisis and two years of an interim government due to political deadlock.
Both Joseph Aoun, the country's president, and Nawaf Salam, the prime minister, who has only been in place since January, underscored this week that Lebanon needed to stay out of the Israel-Iran conflict.
But ideology alone may not be enough to push Hezbollah into the fray, given broader concerns regarding its political future.
On top of its militant activities, the organisation is also active politically, with members in parliament and responsibilities to supporters – including paying contributions to families who lost sons and husbands at war, and to farmers whose livestock and crops were burnt in battle.
Such pledges have been increasingly tough for Hezbollah to abide by as the group has been hit by Lebanon's sweeping economic crisis and disruption to its Iran-supported funding networks.
The air strikes earlier this month in Dahieh came as many families were sitting down to their evening meal.
Mr Rachiiene was manning his shop when the first alert came that an attack was incoming, prompting him to rush home to check on his family.
'I was so worried about them,' he said, running upstairs, throwing open the front door to thankfully find that they had all already gone downstairs to shelter.
In survival mode, he did not think to save anything from home, instead hurrying back down to find his car, into which he gathered as many elderly people and children as he could fit as he helped them get out of the area. In the end, nobody in his family was killed.
'At first, I was so mad the Israelis took our home,' Mr Rachiiene said. 'But now, Iran took theirs, and that makes me feel better. We feel that Iran took revenge for us; right now, we feel Israel is living what we have lived.'
Additional reporting by Sarah Chaayto
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