UMVA has learned that a profound crisis is unfolding in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, a powerful armed organization, has effectively created a state within a state, operating with impunity and undermining the country's sovereignty.
Supported by Iran, Hezbollah maintains a military force that is better funded than the Lebanese government itself, and has declared its own war against Israel, drawing in the country into a cycle of violence and retaliation.
In a recent testimony before a Senate committee, a high-ranking US official stated that "The Lebanese government and the Israeli government could do a peace deal tomorrow. Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon. Hezbollah has called for the overthrow of the current Lebanese government. The impediment in Lebanon is the fact that Hezbollah has embedded itself into that country."
The situation in Lebanon is fundamentally different from the conflict in Gaza, where the dispute is territorial and existential. In Lebanon, Israel has not claimed Lebanese sovereign territory, and the Lebanese government has not called for Israel's destruction. The conflict is not a war between two states, but rather a war between Israel and an armed organization operating inside Lebanon.
Despite this, Lebanon is treated in international forums as a normal sovereign state, but this framing obscures the reality of Hezbollah's power and influence. Hezbollah is not just a political party with a militia wing, but a parallel state that runs hospitals, schools, and media outlets, and has built a distinct Shiite identity separate from the wider Lebanese population.
Hezbollah was founded by people linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and has since become Iran's most powerful proxy, assessed as the most heavily armed non-state actor in the world. It maintains its own command structure, foreign policy, and receives funding and weapons from Tehran, independent of any Lebanese government decision.
The consequences of this arrangement have been devastating. After the 2006 war, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, but Hezbollah has consistently flouted these demands, rebuilding and rearming itself in direct violation of international law.
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah launched a massive attack on Israel, firing over 17,000 rockets, missiles, and UAVs, killing dozens of civilians and forcing thousands of Israelis to evacuate their homes. The Lebanese government issued no order, and the Lebanese Armed Forces took no action, as Hezbollah effectively decided that Lebanon was at war.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that Lebanon's government is constitutionally paralyzed, with a power-sharing system that requires cross-sectarian consensus, which Hezbollah can block. This paralysis, combined with the ongoing state of undeclared war with Israel, has contributed to Lebanon's economic ruin, with the country in the grip of an economic and financial collapse.
The result is a cycle of violence that has repeated itself for decades, with Hezbollah firing from Lebanese territory, Israel responding, and Lebanese civilians paying the price. The problem is not that Israel and Lebanon cannot reach agreements, but that one armed organization, answerable to Tehran rather than Beirut, has effectively stripped the Lebanese government of its sovereign authority.
