December 09, 2024
By Nasser Kandil
• Certain Lebanese politicians opposed to the resistance have surfaced with remarks on the developments in Syria, claiming that the role of the resistance’s weapons has ended with the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. But is this connection valid?
• There is no denying that Syria has historically served as the strategic depth, supply line, and support for the resistance. The events in Syria undoubtedly represent a loss for the resistance. However, this has no bearing on whether Lebanon still needs the resistance’s weapons.
• Opponents of the resistance consistently avoid addressing the core issue and instead focus on the “problem”. To them, the problem is the resistance’s weapons, and they seize every opportunity to link any event to the call for disarming the resistance. Yet, the core issue that concerns most Lebanese when it comes to the resistance’s weapons is the protection of Lebanon from an enemy with boundless ambitions for the country – ambitions that are publicly declared. The sheer scale of this enemy’s aggression, savagery, and criminality, coupled with the evident weakness of the international community and its legal frameworks when confronting such threats, leaves force as the only viable source of protection.
• The resistance and its supporters have consistently called for a serious national dialogue about the issue, urging that the “problem” be viewed within its proper context. There is broad consensus on the need to protect Lebanon, and with it, the necessity of building a strong protective force. This should naturally steer discussions toward fulfilling a core clause of the Taif Agreement: building the Lebanese army on a national foundation and equipping it with the necessary weapons to confront Israeli aggression and ambitions. It should not be reduced to merely dissolving militias or equating the resistance with such groups.
• As part of this dialogue, opponents of the resistance should recognise that it has moved beyond dependence on Syrian supply lines. This was previously declared by the late Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who advised the Israelis not to exhaust themselves with airstrikes in Syria aimed at cutting off these routes. He emphasised that the resistance now manufactures its own drones and precision missiles, rendering its reliance on external supply lines a thing of the past.
