Hezbollah’s adventurism resented by many

Beirut: Although Hezbollah joined the first post-Syrian occupation government in 2005, it staunchly opposed the March 14 alliance, preferring to lead the pro-Syrian March 8 coalition. Between December 1, 2006, and May 7, 2008, March 8 forces organised a series of protests and sit-ins in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, ostensibly because the latter accepted strict United Nations Security Council conditions that created the Special Tribunal for Lebanon tasked to solve the February 14 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Two significant developments marred the goodwill that the Lebanese expressed in the aftermath of the 34-day military conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006. First, the Lebanese resented the large damage sustained by the country and, second, most saw Hezbollah’s actions as unjustified adventurism.

When Beirut shut down Hezbollah’s private and illegal telecommunication network and removed the airport’s security chief on May 5, 2008, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah perceived this as a “declaration of war” on the organisation, which promoted it to launch attacks on several Sunni neighbourhoods on May 7 that left 11 dead and 30 wounded. An ostensibly neutral army pledged to resolve various disputes but let Hezbollah preserve its telecoms network. A temporary truce was reached on May 21, 2008 in Doha, Qatar, to end the 18-month political feud that exploded into fighting and nearly drove the country to a renewed civil war.