Emiratis to their friends in Lebanon: Keep up the pressure…Hezbollah is weakening but not ending
policy Nada Ayoub Friday, November 8, 2024
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Emiratis to their friends in Lebanon: Keep up the pressure…Hezbollah is weakening but not ending
The Emiratis told their allies that Hezbollah will return to the pre-2005 state (Marwan Bouhaidar)
Al-Akhbar learned that a security delegation from the United Arab Emirates has been in Lebanon for about three weeks, and it seems that its mission is focused on surveying the atmosphere, gathering information on security and politics, and asking questions about economic sectors. The delegation held meetings with several political parties, such as the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb parties, MP Ashraf Rifi, independent MPs, and the head of the Beirut Development Association, Ahmed Hashemieh (who is close to President Saad Hariri), in addition to sessions with media professionals from Lebanese institutions that revolve around Abu Dhabi.
Those familiar with some of these contacts said that the Emirati delegation spoke about its vision of Hezbollah’s current situation, and that it “considers that the party, after the painful blow it received with the assassination of its first and second-tier leaders, is now going through a period of weakness, and will return to the size it had before 2005, as an entity representing a Lebanese political party, playing roles like the rest of the parties, but it is no longer the leader of an axis and is therefore no longer a regional player.”
According to information from some of those who met the Emirati delegation, the latter advised “friends” not to “believe the claim that Hezbollah is finished” and “not to deal with this claim as a fact, based on the fact that military strikes alone cannot end the party.”
The sources estimate that the goal of this position is to push “allied” forces and groups to play their role and exert pressure on the party, and not to rely on the fact that they have no role in this regard. The Emirati delegation was attributed to having “their own understanding of the reality of Shiite political Islam, as they see it as more flexible than Sunni political Islam, and that the former may accept defeat temporarily in exchange for ensuring its strategic survival in the scene, so it may retreat tactically without losing its presence, unlike Sunni political Islam, which does not master such flexibility.” The delegation focused on the fact that Lebanon in the coming period will “need a pacemaker, after the party used to play this role.”
The Emiratis’ ongoing incitement against Hezbollah is intended to remain within the framework of “playing on the edge.” According to the data, the delegation stressed “not rushing to elect a president for the republic under fire, to avoid the repercussions of that on the internal situation, and the possibility of fueling sectarian strife, which the Emirates does not support,” whose delegation asked about the economic sectors, and the possibility of investing in them in the next stage, within the framework of suggesting that the Emirates is interested in political and non-political investment in Lebanon.
The Emiratis aim to push “allied” forces and groups to play their role and exert pressure on the party.
The Emirati move at this moment does not seem far from competing with Qatar, as the Emiratis downplayed Doha’s role to those they met, describing it as “not serious” and that it “does not indicate that Doha is serious about actually investing in Lebanon, whether in politics or the economy.”
The visit of the Emirati delegation to Beirut coincided with a meeting held last Sunday in Doha, which included representatives from the foreign ministries and intelligence agencies in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, during which “coordination took place regarding the emergency summit that will be held in Saudi Arabia regarding Gaza and Lebanon, in addition to coordination regarding the Lebanese file, and intensifying efforts to push for a political solution in Lebanon.” It was agreed that the joint Arab meeting regarding Lebanon will include representatives from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan, and will be held in Amman in the middle of this month, as a supplementary meeting to a meeting that was held previously.
