Hezbollah, Where Is Your Victory? Where Is Your Sting?

Nada Hamadé Mouawad, how have you managed to become so unpopular in the circles of Naim Qassem, in Dahiyeh and beyond?

Did you have any idea that the signature you affixed in Washington on June 26 would trigger demonstrations across several parts of the country?

So much so that our army had to intervene overnight to restore order on the road leading to Beirut International Airport.

And all this simply because you fulfilled your patriotic duty: using diplomacy to secure the withdrawal of the IDF from the southern regions it still occupies.

How criminal it is to deny the obvious! It is not armed resistance that can liberate Jabal Amel, but negotiations and diplomatic talks conducted under American auspices.

True, this is hardly glorious, but that is the reality; it may not be inspiring, but it is the best available course.

Since we have not won a decisive victory that would enable us to impose our terms on Israel, there is no point in swaggering.

Let us also say this plainly: the so-called "believing resistance" (al-muqawama al-mu'mina) has done nothing but expand the occupied zone, multiply the destruction, and drive our fellow citizens from their ancestral homes.

Like at Waterloo...

But first, let us recall the terms of the agreement reached on June 17 between Iran and the United States, and the profound sense of abandonment experienced by Lebanon's sovereigntists when they learned—with great shock—that the Lebanese file had been included in the deal.

To the dismay of Lebanese nationalists, Hezbollah supporters could rejoice: Tehran, having us by the throat, was now in a position to decide our fate. Lebanon had fallen into the hands of the Revolutionary Guards.

Among the sovereigntists, resignation set in. American policy was denounced as ambivalent, if not outright treacherous.

People recalled the lamentable episode of the battleship USS New Jersey in September 1983.

Others blamed the rivalry between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In short, the sovereigntist camp was devastated.

Then, suddenly, on June 26, like a jack-in-the-box springing open, the official Lebanese state found the courage to act.

Once the Tripartite Agreement had been signed, southern Lebanon could finally be freed from Israeli occupation while simultaneously putting an end to foreign tutelage, Iranian interference, and the rule of the Yellow Militia.

And so, in Beirut—as once at Waterloo—"hope changed sides, and the battle found a new soul."

The jubilation in Dahiyeh would prove short-lived: barely nine days.

Nada Hamadé Mouawad and Simon Karam had just stolen Hezbollah's victory.

Danger and Resolve

It was a direct rebuff to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. He had exploited the Lebanese "pretext" far too often to violate our sovereignty on the international stage.

Now he found himself left empty-handed, after making concessions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for securing a seat at the negotiating table in Bürgenstock, near Lucerne, Switzerland.

Consequently, the Lebanese Army, backed by our Western allies, must remain on high alert. Now that our diplomats have crossed the Rubicon, our armed forces cannot afford to lose their nerve.

Indeed, did Nabih Berri, "sensing that his end may be near," not immediately warn of fitna? A word that signifies far more than mere discord—it amounts to a barely veiled threat to derail the Framework Agreement.

As for David Hale, the former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, he has cautioned that Hezbollah will initially do everything in its power to sabotage the agreement.

According to him, it will not hesitate to resort to violence and terrorist methods.

For its part, Lebanon's executive leadership—which appears to have regained the initiative—is fully aware that the country is entering a period of severe turbulence. Yet nothing of lasting value can be achieved without taking risks.

More resolve, and still more resolve, and our country may finally succeed in breaking the forced marriage that Hezbollah imposed upon it with the Achaemenid power.