Lebanon-Israel War | 2023-present

[_Arabia_]

The Lebanese army is not Lebanon's army, its just the maronite army, all the higher levels are maronite and its subservient to the US/France and thus essentially doing the Israeli bidding. Hezbollah's interests are protecting shia interests in Lebanon, so I don't blame them for not integrating. I would refuse it as well if they demanded an "integration", if I were them.

The "Lebanese army" is nothing more than the Palestinian Authority of the Iraqi army during the US occupation. A glorified police force, with no air defense, no artillery, no heavy vehicles, and no air force.

Hezbollah made many mistakes, but not integrating into the Lebanese Army is not one of them.

Yes, and who made it like that if not Lebanese disunity? How about trying to change that by integrating Hezbollah and ALL other militias with the Lebanese army?

Also it is not purely Maronite dominated. Plenty of Lebanese Sunni Arabs. If it has a high proportion of Maronite-aligned people (Christian Lebanese as a whole) because the Lebanese Shia Arabs and Lebanese Sunni Arabs allowed it to be like that and outside forces.

Lebanon was never ruled by any dictator, it was just always a heavily divided country between Sunnis, Shias, Christians (who themselves have many fractions, Catholics, Maronites even Protestants, lol), Druze etc.

Hezbollah has not been a unifying force at all, rather the opposite.

 

[_Arabia_]

I think that's not fair to say Lebanese people don't get along and want to be part of Syria. It's a diverse nation that has potential if reform and security arrangements are made.

It's tough for Hezbollah as some will blame Hezbollah's exisistence for that.

But major players are also not equipping the Lebanese army. Means there is some kind of agenda to keep Lebanon weak. Either major players with money hold the view that Lebanon should be Syrian or for other reasons.

I would not want to be a part of Syria as a Lebanese person. Lebanese didn't want to be part of Assad family ruled Syria either. The country is occupied and in ruins, there's no actual reconstruction happening funds aren't there or projects are being delayed.

It's a complicated dynamic given all these factors. I imagine Shia's don't feel safe either. And there isn't trust in the Lebanese army because they're weak and not properly equipped. Everyone in Lebanon has weapons or formed militias in the past. Palestinians, Shia's, Sunnis, Christians, etc ....

So if the major players were actually interested in Lebanon prospering, they'd properly equip the Lebanese army or allow it to purchase more effective weapons + increase in size to be able to establish law and order in the country, but they aren't

How is it not fair when they have had the longest civil war in modern Arab history which was only brokered due to immense KSA pressure and threat of KSA economic boycott? Hence the later Taif agreement.

How is it not divided when their entire political system is divided and positions in the government (foreign minister, president, prime minister etc.) are divided by sectarian identity and can only be held by either Shias, Sunnis or Christians? For instance only Sunni Lebanese can even become prime ministers.

How are they remotely unified when they cannot even coexist? Have you seen the pathetic state of the Lebanese political system, their collapsing economy (not due to Israel or any outsiders) the corruption, lack of any industry etc.?

It is a completely failed state due to its inherent divisions.

The country was close to a civil war during the Syrian Civil War itself. You had 10.000's of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters fighting on behalf of Al-Assad in Syria while you had similarly 1000's of Sunni Lebanese fighting on the side of the Syrian opposition.

Lebanese were basically killing each other in a foreign country (Syria). I do not know of any such examples maybe outside of Iraqis and Yemenis who you also could find on both sides.

Nobody (regional countries) has any agenda to keep Lebanon weak by default because Lebanon is largely and irrelevant country regionally speaking both militarily, economically and politically.

The only country that has a direct interest in a weak Lebanon is Israel.

I am not talking about now, both Syria and Lebanon are failed states as of now. But historically speaking Lebanon was always part (for the most) of historical Syria and it was carved out by the French for the Christian community hence why Lebanon was/is heavily Maronite dominated politically to this day.

Maybe if the Shias had not stupidly attacked Syrian Muslims for no sane reason other than following Iranian regime blindly in order to protect the Al-Assad rule, there would not be this animosity between Syrians and Lebanese Shias.

Israel/US is not going to allow the appearance of a strong and anti-Israel Lebanese army or any such group.

Which is why it is thanks to stupid Lebanese divisions that the past 50 years of division has even prevented them from having a powerful inclusive national army where people like Hezbollah foot soldiers could easily serve and join.

Trying to remove any blame from Hezbollah and its leadership for the divisions within Lebanon (which they are a main reason for) is not serious.

 

[ResurgentIran2]

@ResurgentIran2

Why the hypocrisy?

Would you like to see a Saudi Arabian-founded and aligned militia or a Turkish founded and aligned-militia or a Afghan founded or aligned-militia gain monopoly in Iran that for instance only served (for the majority) the interests of Iranian Arabs, Azeri Iranians, Persians, Turkmens, Baloch or whatever groups (ethnic or religious or regional) instead of an Iranian state institution such as the army which by its design as a national army should be inclusive and serve the national state and not outsiders?

Why the idiotic praise of non-state actors (who are never a good idea for the cohesion of the host country or the region as a whole) just because they happen to be aligned with your country's regime/government (I doubt that most Iranians are in support of Iranian funds going to foreign groups when Iran has so many problems and challenges within Iran itself) and their agenda?

While citizens of the same country (whether in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq or Yemen), just due to a different sect, are labelled with all kind of remarks and are seen as enemies? It makes zero sense.

No militia can even remotely threaten the existence of Israel or win any wars. Even the 2006 conflict was not a "Hezbollah victory" despite the propaganda. Unless a victory is having your capital and large parts of your country carpet bombed while Israeli casualties are 20-30 times less (military and civilian).

Your question is premised on the notion that I buy into this narrative that Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy that serves some some imperial project of Iran. Which is obviously false.
Hezbollah has agency with their people who have real grievances, and they would exist without Iranian support. Just like other groups, be they Shia or Sunni.

Because the very premise of your question is fundamentally wrong, it would be an exercise in futility to answer it further. Thank you

 

[_Arabia_]

Saudi Arabian won't entertain it at the moment unless Israel gets out of control and threatens Egypt

Otherwise you never know this guy may have a different viewpoint than Nasrallah. He's not that ideologically aligned with Iran. He is more aligned with Arabs. And they are in an existential crisis, at least their movement, as are the Palestinians as a people based in Gaza.

I guess he's saying we're gonna stop inciting against KSA and make peace with it, not expecting military support or funding, but KSA tolerating their exisistence in Lebanon and he's marketing Hezbollah as a core piece of a defensive formation in the region against the Israeli threat

Which was before the current ceasefire in Gaza and was seemingly escalating

Lebanon historically in 1948 participated in Arab intervention against Israel. They will inevitably participate in a future one if that ever becomes necessary again , and KSA and others can stand to gain from that by keeping Israeli threat away from them

They can also help bolster Syrian defenses to help achieve such effect

If Lebanon gets attacked again and Hezbollah collapses, Israel will more actively seek to disarm/weaken Syrian regime. Which it's refraining from doing so due to US pressure at the moment. And if it tries expelling Gaza residents -- it will threaten Egypt's security which I believe is the red line and turning point for Arabs that will brew some kind of response and push Arabs, all parties, including Hezbollah, to make a joint effort

Israel backed down recently but we don't know if it's just for resting its army and reloading

Or if it saw that as too risky and US also saw same thing

Why should KSA entertain supporting Hezbollah when this idiotic group has been hostile towards KSA since their appearance by default of being an Iranian regime proxy? I don't recall KSA ever attacking Lebanese Shia Arabs. Instead KSA was the main financial backer of Lebanon as a state and people (hosting the largest Lebanese diaspora in the region to this day). Once KSA hosted the largest Lebanese Shia Arab community outside of tiny South Lebanon. Until vetting became much stronger and many were distrusted/kicked out because of the actions of Hezbollah.

This group, along with the Iranian regime, literally created Hezbollah al-Hijaz that are behind a few terrorist attacks in KSA. They even hijacked/bombed Saudi Arabian flights 1-2 times in the 1980's and 1990's. They were actively supporting the Houthis.

He is an Iranian regime puppet like every Hezbollah leadership. I don't believe a single word that he is saying. He is part of the Nasrallah generation and his inner circle. They have all given their political and religious loyalty to Tehran.

They have never apologized for their actions even though KSA has never attacked them or hurt Lebanon at all as a country, rather the opposite.

They and their supporters continue to incite against KSA online 24/7. They are more obsessed about KSA and imaginary Wahhabis than about Israel and Zionists.

I have nothing against Lebanese people or Lebanon (consider them brotherly people and fellow Arab/Semites), regardless of sect, but the fact is that non-pro Hezbollah Lebanese Shias, Lebanese Druze, Lebanese Sunnis and Lebanese Atheists don't have this hostility or obsession about KSA as the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese Shias do. It is a fact. So I am naturally not going to view them in a favorable light unless I see some changes from them. I have not seen that to date.

Just their leadership or some high-ranking foot soldiers of their admitting that their war against the Syrian people was wrong and a mistake and that they apologize would make a huge change but not even that they can do.

This has nothing to do with Israel anyway but are part of internal Arab divisions and stupidity and being critical of Hezbollah actions does not mean that anybody is pro-Israel or looks favorably at it.

Which is why you can see my supporting Hezbollah directly whenever they fought against IDF (foot soldiers) but I am not suddenly going to look at their leadership favorably just because Israel happens to attack them. To me radical Zionists/anti-Arab/Muslim Israelis and Hezbollah are no friends. At least there is a hope with even Hezbollah leadership stopping/learning from their past mistakes and doing what is right but I have little hope of that occurring.

They are still exporting captagon to Syria/Jordan, even though it is much less compared to when they were jointly running Syria.

 

[ResurgentIran2]

@_Arabia_

However, you have raised some legitimate points which I will adress.

No, non-state actors cant win wars against Israel. They dont have the manpower and resources of a state, that can pose a genuine strategic challenge to Israel. This is true.
However no such state exist in the Arab world today, lets be honest about this. The last time it existed was during Nassers Egypt. But they were subdued with the peace treaty and American financial aid.

In fact, the opposite is true as far as state actors opposing Israeli actions and hegemony. Israel, despite the genocide, is being accepted and normalized in the Arab world (as far as states and government to government is concerned). The Abraham accords being an obvious example.

 

[Flotilla]

I don't buy that nonsense, that only 10,000 rockets left. They have been building and supplying for 20 years. No way they ran out. Its probably in Beqaa and underground in mountain complexes.

The real question is if these so called "Resistance alliance" will help if/when the Israelis do attack. The Iraqis are the most useless of the bunch, all it took are a few airstrikes and they gave up.

With Syrian land route cut, there is no meaningful Iranian help to Hezbollah. But the most intriguing part of the situation was the visit of the so-called "provisional Government" to Russia last week. Iranians were also visiting Russia, so I would like to read a between lines agreement of Syrian/Iranian Government. But that It is so crazy.
The reality must be much simpler. Syrian route is closed and Irán has no meaningful way to replenish Hezbollah inventory.
And even europeans are tired about this genocidal and disturbing cáncer in the Middle East that has become Israel. But that is another history.

 

[_Arabia_]

Your question is premised on the notion that I buy into this narrative that Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy that serves some some imperial project of Iran. Which is obviously false.
Hezbollah has agency with their people who have real grievances, and they would exist without Iranian support. Just like other groups, be they Shia or Sunni.

Because the very premise of your question is fundamentally wrong, it would be an exercise in futility to answer it further. Thank you

All existing groups, even if created/directed/influenced by outsiders have a local footprint. Even ISIS had a local footprint among a certain minority of disfranchised locals in Iraq and Syria.

Point is that the entire Hezbollah leadership is loyal to and have given their religious oath and political oath to the Iranian regime and in terms of their involvement in all major regional conflicts, they have no say of their own by large.



You really think it was in the interests of a supposed Islamic movement (that wants to implement Sharia in Lebanon - there are several clips of Nasrallah claiming to want to do that and copy their allies - Iranian government) to support a secular Ba'athi non-Muslim and non-Shia (Nusayri) leader in Al-Assad and regime and this way alienate their biggest neighbor (Syria) whom (South Lebanese in particular and Lebanese as a whole) have the closest ties to on every front? I don't believe that for a second. It was all about keeping a key Iranian ally (Al-Assad regime) in power.

Similarly there was never any reason to be hostile against KSA since the creation of Hezbollah (since KSA has never hurt Lebanon or attacked it, on the contrary KSA was the main economic helper of Lebanon, largest host of the Lebanese people in the region), fellow Arab and Muslim country and most ironically most of the Lebanese Shia leaders and Hezbollah leadership claim Sadah ancestry from KSA, Nasrallah included, which he even openly boasted about several times.

So obviously this was due to KSA-Iran hostility of the past. So by default Hezbollah became hostile too.

Anyway main point is that if Lebanon wants to be taken seriously as a country and not remain as an absolutely failed, divided etc. state, they need to unify as a people and remove all militias (like any sane and functioning nation state in 2025) and create a strong and inclusive national army where every Lebanese community can feel a kinship and relationship to. Nowadays and for the past 50 years this was never the case.

And Maronite political and military dominance in Lebanon was a creation (by default) of the French colonizers who created Lebanon (the country) for that very sole purpose. It was created by design this way but if the Lebanese people were truly unified they would have changed this and created inclusive Lebanese institutions (political) but that never occurred, instead each community created their own militias each with their own foreign backers.

That is now how you run a successful country and nobody from the region, who do not live/is from such a failed state, would ever tolerate something similar occurring in Turkey, Iran, KSA, Israel, Egypt etc.

 

[ResurgentIran2]

With Syrian land route cut, there is no meaningful Iranian help to Hezbollah. But the most intriguing part of the situation was the visit of the so-called "provisional Government" to Russia last week. Iranians were also visiting Russia, so I would like to read a between lines agreement of Syrian/Iranian Government. But that It is so crazy.
The reality must be much simpler. Syrian route is closed and Irán has no meaningful way to replenish Hezbollah inventory.
And even europeans are tired about this genocidal and disturbing cáncer in the Middle East that has become Israel. But that is another history.

Syria is a hot mess. You might argue transfering weapons is easier in the abscense of a strong central authority. But this is all hearsay.

More than that, Hezbollah is fully capable of manufacturing their own weaponry.

 

[ResurgentIran2]

All existing groups, even if created/directed/influenced by outsiders have a local footprint. Even ISIS had a local footprint among a certain minority of disfranchised locals in Iraq and Syria.

Point is that the entire Hezbollah leadership is loyal to and have given their religious oath and political oath to the Iranian regime and in terms of their involvement in all major regional conflicts, they have no say of their own by large.



You really think it was in the interests of a supposed Islamic movement (that wants to implement Sharia in Lebanon - there are several clips of Nasrallah claiming to want to do that and copy their allies - Iranian government) to support a secular Ba'athi non-Muslim and non-Shia (Nusayri) leader in Al-Assad and regime and this way alienate their biggest neighbor (Syria) whom (South Lebanese in particular and Lebanese as a whole) have the closest ties to on every front? I don't believe that for a second. It was all about keeping a key Iranian ally (Al-Assad regime) in power.

Similarly there was never any reason to be hostile against KSA since the creation of Hezbollah (since KSA has never hurt Lebanon or attacked it, on the contrary KSA was the main economic helper of Lebanon, largest host of the Lebanese people in the region), fellow Arab and Muslim country and most ironically most of the Lebanese Shia leaders and Hezbollah leadership claim Sadah ancestry from KSA, Nasrallah included, which he even openly boasted about several times.

So obviously this was due to KSA-Iran hostility of the past. So by default Hezbollah became hostile too.

Anyway main point is that if Lebanon wants to be taken seriously as a country and not remain as an absolutely failed, divided etc. state, they need to unify as a people and remove all militias (like any sane and functioning nation state in 2025) and create a strong and inclusive national army where every Lebanese community can feel a kinship and relationship to. Nowadays and for the past 50 years this was never the case.

And Maronite political and military dominance in Lebanon was a creation (by default) of the French colonizers who created Lebanon (the country) for that very sole purpose. It was created by design this way but if the Lebanese people were truly unified they would have changed this and created inclusive Lebanese institutions (political) but that never occurred, instead each community created their own militias each with their own foreign backers.

That is now how you run a successful country and nobody from the region, who do not live/is from such a failed state, would ever tolerate something similar occurring in Turkey, Iran, KSA, Israel, Egypt etc.

I agree with last part. I actually happen to agree that there will come a time where Hezbollah will have to disarm or alternatively integrate themselves with the Lebanese army.

That time is not now. And you know why.
As another poster pointed out. The Lebanese army in its current form is designed to be a police force to subjugate and control their population, more than conronting enemies/states that are hostile. Like a real army does. How come the army has not responded to one of the thousands of ceasefire violations by the settler colony?

Look, the bottom line. Israel needs to be dismantled as a state. It needs to cease to exist (just like the soviet union and apartheid in south africa collapsed and ceaded to exist).
Until that happens, every actor including non-state actors needs to be armed to the teeth.

I suspect that deep down you know this as well.

 

[_Arabia_]

@_Arabia_

However, you have raised some legitimate points which I will adress.

No, non-state actors cant win wars against Israel. They dont have the manpower and resources of a state, that can pose a genuine strategic challenge to Israel. This is true.
However no such state exist in the Arab world today, lets be honest about this. The last time it existed was during Nassers Egypt. But they were subdued with the peace treaty and American financial aid.

In fact, the opposite is true as far as state actors opposing Israeli actions and hegemony. Israel, despite the genocide, is being accepted and normalized in the Arab world (as far as states and government to government is concerned). The Abraham accords being an obvious example.

Israel would not survive for a single day without US/Western support 24/7 even against a unified Arab neighboring army just composed of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon (their only direct Arab neighbors). Same way that Israel was losing almost all of historical Palestine against a few Arab armies back in 1948, until temporary "peace" was brokered by the UN and massive Jewish reinforced of Jewish WW2 veterans from USA/Europe arrived in huge numbers and after US/Western support/arming of Israel.

Now no single nation state in the Muslim World is capable of winning a war against nuclear-armed Israel due to US support alone and Israeli nukes which will be used in case of Israel's existence being threatened. Have no doubts about that.

Not really, as only Morocco (due to the huge Moroccan Jewish diaspora, the braindead Moroccan-Algerian rivalry, which apparently is close to ending according to Trump, would be a great thing), Bahrain and UAE has signed the Abraham Accords. Morocco, while a large Arab country, is far removed from the region. Only the likes of Mauritania are further away and they are largely irrelevant anyway. Bahrain and UAE are small/tiny (Bahrain) states as well. So nothing, ground breaking, has changed and it is only due to US pressure/thinking that you will gain influence in the US/have them on your side by normalizing through Israel. There is also opportunism involved and thinking that Israel/US ties are much more favorable and you can gain much more from it than ties with Palestine which does not even exist as a functional country even on paper. Or thinking that the war was lost back in 1948 and that there is no point deluding yourself from the reality. Or just purely selfish state interests at play.

And whether we like it or not, Israel is here to stay as a country and 6-8 million Jews (Arab Jews and Eastern European/Southern European Jews) are not going anywhere. They are obviously not going back to their respective Arab countries of origin nor back to Europe. So Abraham Accords or no Abraham Accords some kind of political solution needs to be found one way or another because as things stand neither the US is going anywhere nor Israel itself and frankly neither Hamas, nor Hezbollah, nor Iran or anyone else can change that. We all saw recent events in the past 2 years.

But all this is separate from the mess that is Lebanon in 2025.

 

[ResurgentIran2]

Israel would not survive for a single day without US/Western support 24/7 even against a unified Arab neighboring army just composed of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon (their only direct Arab neighbors). Same way that Israel was losing almost all of historical Palestine against a few Arab armies back in 1948, until temporary "peace" was brokered by the UN and massive Jewish reinforced of Jewish WW2 veterans from USA/Europe arrived in huge numbers and after US/Western support/arming of Israel.

Now no single nation state in the Muslim World is capable of winning a war against nuclear-armed Israel due to US support alone and Israeli nukes which will be used in case of Israel's existence being threatened. Have no doubts about that.

Not really, as only Morocco (due to the huge Moroccan Jewish diaspora, the braindead Moroccan-Algerian rivalry, which apparently is close to ending according to Trump, would be a great thing), Bahrain and UAE has signed the Abraham Accords. Morocco, while a large Arab country, is far removed from the region. Only the likes of Mauritania are further away and they are largely irrelevant anyway. Bahrain and UAE are small/tiny (Bahrain) states as well. So nothing, ground breaking, has changed and it is only due to US pressure/thinking that you will gain influence in the US/have them on your side by normalizing through Israel. There is also opportunism involved and thinking that Israel/US ties are much more favorable and you can gain much more from it than ties with Palestine which does not even exist as a functional country even on paper. Or thinking that the war was lost back in 1948 and that there is no point deluding yourself from the reality. Or just purely selfish state interests at play.

And whether we like it or not, Israel is here to stay as a country and 6-8 million Jews (Arab Jews and Eastern European/Southern European Jews) are not going anywhere. They are obviously not going back to their respective Arab countries of origin nor back to Europe. So Abraham Accords or no Abraham Accords some kind of political solution needs to be found one way or another because as things stand neither the US is going anywhere nor Israel itself.

I disagree. Israel is not here to stay. Its a weak entity internally, and is in the process of disintegrating as a state.
However the process can be long. It could take years, decades even.

Moreover and more importantly, Israel has no place in West Asia. Absolutely none. Its existence should be regarded as intolerable.

Now, Jews can continue to live here. I dont disagree with that. But Israel as a regime/state needs to be dismantled and a process of decolonization will have to take place.

 

[hyperman]

Maronite Christians, if we exclude the portion that want to go to bed with israel. Not all of them are sellouts.

And Hezbollah indeed enjoys a level of popular support among Sunnis.
But this is mostly anecdotal, given to me by third party (Lebanese-Swedes that frequently visit their home country)

Kataeb and I would say an outright majority of the Maronites resent hezbollah as a political force, b/c its a power axiom outside of the state(that lets face it, was specifically carved out of Syria for them), and one that rivals their own power, and even undermines their interests.

With regards to the sunnis, whatever good will that existed pre Syrian war, is just not there any more, and in many ways, very unlikely to return outside of some sort of reconciliation initiative coming on part of Hezbollah and Hezbollah attempting to repair relations with the Syria, but again thats very unlikely right now for a multitude of reason. Though Hezbollah reacing out to Saudi for dialogue was a step in the right direction.

 

[_Arabia_]

I agree with last part. I actually happen to agree that there will come a time where Hezbollah will have to disarm or alternatively integrate themselves with the Lebanese army.

That time is not now. And you know why.
As another poster pointed out. The Lebanese army in its current form is designed to be a police force to subjugate and control their population, more than conronting enemies/states that are hostile. Like a real army does. How come the army has not responded to one of the thousands of ceasefire violations by the settler colony?

Look, the bottom line. Israel needs to be dismantled as a state. It needs to cease to exist (just like the soviet union and apartheid in south africa collapsed and ceaded to exist).
Until that happens, every actor including non-state actors needs to be armed to the teeth.

I suspect that deep down you know this as well.

Did you know that the Lebanese army is far worse armed than even a non-state militia/actor like Hezbollah? The Lebanese army barely exists on paper.

They have around 80.000 soldiers.

@hyperman I have to admit that my knowledge about the Lebanese National Army is very little (frankly if you look at news and events in the past 50 years it is like they barely exist) but according to CIA data, the Lebanese Army is no longer dominated by Maronites/Christians and nowadays the sectarian divide is very much representative of the demographics of Lebanon itself.

This is data from 2007 (declassified CIA files):

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84B00049R001800230012-0.pdf

So your claim of the Lebanese Army being run by Maronites nowadays is not accurate.

AI is also telling me that it was mostly the case right after French creation (Lebanese "independence") 1920 until 1975 (pre-civil war).

Carnegie is a serious institution:

Loyalties and Group Formation in the Lebanese Officer Corps

The Lebanese Armed Forces, one of the few state institutions that is regarded by most citizens as trustworthy and legitimate, continues to reflect the communal and political cleavages of broader Lebanese society.

carnegieendowment.org

So allow me to disagree as I also wrote initially.

So there is literally zero hindrance (outside), other than Israel, for the Lebanese army to develop into the sole representative of Lebanon as a state and for militias, Hezbollah included, to merge with the state/military.

I don't understand why non-Arabs are supporting militias in the Arab world while never wanting to see such a scenario/situation in their own homeland.

Countries with militias acting outside of state institutions are almost all by default failed states. Lebanon is no different in 2025.

That should not be the way forward. If there was genuine Lebanese unity and sane/just Lebanese state institutions, every Lebanese community would be fairly represented (roughly speaking, of course there will always be exceptions like in any country) and this way Lebanese as a whole would feel a kinship and obligation to their state institutions.

Most importantly it would weaken the Israeli rhetoric because when they are attacking Southern Lebanon they are hiding behind the rhetoric of Hezbollah being an Iranian proxy terrorist group (radical Muslims) while if they fought against an inclusive national army of Lebanon they would not be able to use this rhetoric.

 

[hyperman]

Yes, and who made it like that if not Lebanese disunity? How about trying to change that by integrating Hezbollah and ALL other militias with the Lebanese army?

Also it is not purely Maronite dominated. Plenty of Lebanese Sunni Arabs. If it has a high proportion of Maronite-aligned people (Christian Lebanese as a whole) because the Lebanese Shia Arabs and Lebanese Sunni Arabs allowed it to be like that and outside forces.

Lebanon was never ruled by any dictator, it was just always a heavily divided country between Sunnis, Shias, Christians (who themselves have many fractions, Catholics, Maronites even Protestants, lol), Druze etc.

Hezbollah has not been a unifying force at all, rather the opposite.

It is Maronite dominated, there is a reason why the Chief of Staff is always a Maronite, even though there is no law that requires it. There are 3 major factions in Lebanon, The Maronies, the Shia and the Sunnis. The Maronies have the Lebanese Army, the Shia have Hezbollah and the Sunnis don't have an army(though the dynamics have changed since the new govt in Damascus).

 

[hyperman]

With Syrian land route cut, there is no meaningful Iranian help to Hezbollah. But the most intriguing part of the situation was the visit of the so-called "provisional Government" to Russia last week. Iranians were also visiting Russia, so I would like to read a between lines agreement of Syrian/Iranian Government. But that It is so crazy.
The reality must be much simpler. Syrian route is closed and Irán has no meaningful way to replenish Hezbollah inventory.
And even europeans are tired about this genocidal and disturbing cáncer in the Middle East that has become Israel. But that is another history.

They need to replenish the same way they "replenish" the houthis. There is no land corridor, and yet they manage to smuggle things in or manage to transfer tech that allows for local production, independent of a supply line.

I did read about that Russian thing you mentioned, someone people had theories of Russia being used as a backchannel to Iran, though there is no concrete evidence of that we know of.