Friedman Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute - Author of Hezbollah Land. RT/follow does not imply endorsement.
Oct 30 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
#Naim_Qassem speech - THREAD: 1- In his first speech as the new leader of #Hezbollah, Naim Qassem confirmed he has no leadership material. He spoke like a political analyst, reading frequently from a paper, with no passion, and zero charisma.
2-He did not offer a roadmap for survival or evidence of what he referred to as “victory of the resistance” or the defeat of the Israeli army. He projected denial and illusions of victory, while Lebanon continues to be be under severe attacks (and all of Baalbek was evacuated today and air strikes started while he was speaking).
Oct 8, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If this is Israel’s 9/11 moment, it’ll change everything in the region. I remember the celebrations in Beirut post 9/11 and how they quickly turned into pain and tragedy as our region moved to wars, collapse, and extremism (with Iran strengthening its hand in our countries) -1/
Terrorism is not heroic and this short-lived euphoria in the streets will turn into enormous pain and death. We will pay the price and the Palestinian people will pay the heaviest price. -2/
Oct 7, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Will #Hezbollah join the war with #Hamas if #Israel decides to go into #Gaza? This is the main question today. The answer depends on various scenarios/elements in the Iranian regime thinking. Here’s a summary: 1/
#Iran will use Hezbollah against Israel when/if the war is extremely important for Iran’s regional interests. Hezbollah has been deterred since 2006, busy with Syria, and developing new skills/weapons. 2/
Oct 11, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
1- The Maritime Agreement between Israel and Lebanon deserves support for 2 main reasons: First, No matter how you look at it, this is an agreement between #Lebanon and #Israel, and an actual recognition of Israel by #Hezbollah. #ترسيم_الحدود_البحرية2- The rhetoric of “Israel does not exist and this is an occupied land etc…” will become irrelevant under the new reality. Hezbollah cannot say they will never negotiate with an enemy/occupier, because they just did.
Feb 5, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Thread on @LokmanSlim#LokmanSlim:
1-I’m heartbroken and full of indescribable anger, but I feel obliged to push myself to say a few things about the assassination of my amazing friend Lokman Slim and the context of his assassination. Some of this is missing from the rhetoric:
2-No, #LokmanSlim was not “a prominent Lebanese activist.” Lokman was a prominent anti-Hezbollah critic, among other things. We all know what he did, how was repeatedly and directly threatened by Hezbollah, and where/how he was murdered.
Feb 29, 2020 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
THREAD: #Hezbollah quagmire between #Idlib#Iran and the #coronavirus:
First, various reports coming from Idlib indicating major losses within Hezbollah forces, against Turkish and Turkish-supported #Syrian rebels 1/9
Second, some of the recordings made by #Hezbollah fighters indicate that the #Russians have abandoned them. See this video 👇🏼2/9
Dec 20, 2019 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Thread: HEZBOLLAH'S NEW STRATEGY: The clashes between the #LAF and #Hariri supporters are too obvious. The #LebanonProtests are being pushed away with this new Sunni-Shia threat. #Hezbollah's nomination of #hassan_diab is aimed at pushing the Sunni community to the streets 1/5
Now the #Hariri supporters are out, highlighting the same sectarian sentiment that the Hezbollah supporters have been highlighting for the past few week, when they were shouting "Shia, Shia, Shia." Today, the Sunnis are all Sunnis 2/5
