Hezbollah as we know it died with Nasrallah - analysis

"On the second anniversary of the assassination of former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, the party has not succeeded in fully overcoming the absence of the man who held its leadership for more than three decades, and who transformed the General Secretariat into a political, organizational, military and popular center of gravity that is difficult to replace." That's how the prominent Saudi newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat described the current state of the Lebanese terror group, exactly two years after Israel eliminated Nasrallah by dropping 84 one-ton bombs on his underground bunker in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Sources close to Hezbollah say that current Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, has failed to fill the void left by his predecessor, while the center of gravity in the organization's decision-making is now coming directly from Iran. And that sums up the entire story. In his 30-plus years as Hezbollah's leader, Nasrallah was able to transform the Lebanese organization from a small insurgent militia to the biggest non-state armed force in the world.

The way he did that was to enjoy the benefits of being the crown jewel of Iran's proxy network in the region, while knowing how to balance between demands from Tehran to engage Israel and domestic political considerations seeking to avoid constant clashes with Israel. This tightrope act enabled Nasrallah to use billions in Iranian funding to build a massive army, but also to establish a deep state in Lebanon, forcing leader after leader in Beirut to bow down to his will.

But Nasrallah overshadowed not only Lebanon, but the entire region. At one point, Nasrallah was dubbed "the strongest man in Iran", and this was when Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was still alive. That's quite an impressive accomplishment. Suggested articles France and Lebanon challenge Israel over UN force’s future - report | i24NEWS IDF demolishes Hezbollah underground base on Ali Taher Ridge | i24NEWS US presses Lebanon to assert sovereignty and disarm Hezbollah | Yuval Barnea The same cannot be said about Naim Qassem.

Unlike his predecessor, who maintained his hold over the Arab world with firebrand speeches every few weeks, Qassem rarely delivers televised speeches and has failed to project the same gravitas as Nasrallah. In his speech commemorating two years since the killing of Nasrallah, Qassem said "Nasrallah's martyrdom has ensured our survival" (which to some extent is true), and vowed to continue on the path of Jihad, "with Palestine as our compass."

If that was said by Nasrallah, someone may have believed it. But in post-Nasrallah Lebanon, there are fewer buyers for such messages. Today, most Lebanese view Hezbollah as a foreign agent, an Iranian organ seeking to destroy Israel from the north. Nasrallah's source of success was to keep the Iranian influence at bay, thus keeping the appearance of being a Lebanese group. In the wake of his death, Iran has completely taken over, with dozens of operatives actively calling the shots on the ground.

Qassem is nothing more than window dressing. IDF targets Hezbollah sites in response to drone attack