Decade after war with Israel, Syria's war pulls Hezbollah in
AYNATA, Lebanon (AP) — In front-line villages of south Lebanon, the posters of Hezbollah members killed fighting Israel 10 years ago still stand, but have faded. Now rising up around them is a new generation of posters, bearing the faces of young fighters from the militant group killed in Syria.
They reflect the Shiite group's radical shift from decades fighting Israel, a cause that at one time earned it soaring popularity across the Arab and Muslim world, to the far less popular role fighting fellow Arabs in defense of Syria's president, Bashar Assad.
It is a venture that is proving costly. The war in neighboring Syria is bleeding Hezbollah of fighters and experienced military commanders, and has left the group more vulnerable to accusations of complete subservience to Iran, which rallied Hezbollah to intervene in the war. So far, more than a thousand of the group's fighters, including several founding members, have been killed in Syria, a toll higher than the one incurred by the group in nearly two decades of fighting Israeli occupation forces.
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016 photo, Tayseer Daqiq grieves by his nephew's picture, Ali Daqiq, who was killed in Khalsa (southern Aleppo) on June 16, 2016, His body is still held by militants, as the family receive condolences at their home, in the southern village of Harees, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hezbollah's involvement in Syria has also changed the public discourse around the group in the Arab world. At home in Lebanon, its domination of politics is unshaken: With a bloc of allies in the Cabinet and parliament, it vetoes any decisions it doesn't approve of, including preventing parliament from electing a new president. But it is much more openly criticized. Public opinion is sharply polarized among those who see the group as dragging Lebanon into the Syria morass, and others who support it.
"I think that we're seeing rumblings of discontent. I mean some families obviously aren't happy. We've heard a lot of stories about families saying why are our kids dying in Syria, we can understand them dying in the fight against Israel but why are they dying in the fight in Syria," said Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.
But whatever criticism of Hezbollah exists among Lebanese Shiites, it tends to remain inside the Shiite community. Public support for the group so far appears intact because the majority of Shiites still see supporting Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect that is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, as crucial and vital to their interests.
That's in part because of how Hezbollah frames the war to its supporters. The group has depicted itself as battling Sunni extremists intent on wiping out Shiites, arguing it must fight them in Syria to keep them away from Lebanon. It also calls the war an extension of its fight against Israel, saying that Syria is under attack from Western powers seeking to eliminate Assad as a "center of resistance" to Israel.
"Syria has been the worst imaginable piece of news for Hezbollah. A challenge that has transformed the party into something it does not want: the perception of a Sunni killer," said Bilal Saab, a senior fellow for Middle East Security at the Atlantic Council.
It is difficult to measure sentiment within Hezbollah, a highly secretive and disciplined organization. On the 10th anniversary of the 2006 war with Israel, an Associated Press team gained rare access into the homes of slain fighters in south Lebanon, where relatives grieved but said they supported the group's justifications for fighting in Syria.
In one home, the socks and boots stained with the blood of a Hezbollah fighter killed in 2006 are on display in the sitting room of his parents' house. In another, the military uniform worn by a fighter killed in Syria lay on his bed, laid out carefully by his grieving mother.
"Khalil was my soul but I won't hide my son and say, let other people send their children," said Hanan Ibrahim, whose son Khalil was killed near Damascus on Dec. 27, 2013. "He should go (fight in Syria), and my other son too and if I had a third son I would also send him," she said, speaking in her living room, decorated with a giant picture of her son Khalil on a front line in Syria.
Hezbollah's popularity across the Arab world and in Lebanon had taken a major hit beginning in 2005, when it was accused by some of being behind the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri with a massive bombing in Beirut. In 2008, the group briefly seized several Sunni neighborhoods of west Beirut after the government closed down its secret telecommunications network, pointing its weapons internally for the first time since the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian war has, according to its critics, left the group looking even more like an Iranian tool fighting for its own self-interest.
It is a far cry from back in 2000, when Hezbollah was celebrated across much of the Arab world, including among Sunnis, for its guerrilla campaign that eventually forced Israeli troops to pull out of a slice of southern Lebanon they had occupied for 18 years. And despite some criticism, the group was supported by the majority of Lebanese during the 2006 war with Israel, which began with a cross-border Hezbollah raid that kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, triggering a massive Israeli air and ground campaign.
The 2006 fighting killed about 1,200 Lebanese, including hundreds of civilians, and about 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The war failed to neutralize the group's rocket threat, and Israeli officials say Hezbollah's improved missile arsenal is now capable of striking virtually anywhere in the country.
Israeli political and military leaders, however, say that the war succeeded in re-establishing Israeli deterrence and provided a decade of quiet on its northern front — and gleefully note that the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah is still in hiding 10 years later.
Israeli officials also acknowledge that as a group, Hezbollah is amassing more combat experience and has more than replenished its arms via smuggling from Syria. That pipeline is one key reason why preserving the existing Syrian regime is seen as so existential for Hezbollah.
In the front-line village of Aynata, only few miles away from the Israeli border, residents vividly recall the 2006 war. The village was heavily damaged by Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters. Fourteen Hezbollah fighters and 28 civilians were killed.
Since Hezbollah began sending fighters to Syria in 2012, six other fighters from the village have died.
"What is common between these two wars is that they are existential wars against Hezbollah, and to be more precise, it is a war against Shiites," said Hisham Khanafer, whose two younger brothers, Moussa and Abbas, were killed — one fighting Israel in 2006 and one in Syria last year.
Abbas, who was 25, had planned to marry his fiancee as soon as he returned from Syria. Moussa was 29, his third daughter born on the day he was killed.
Khanafer wears a yellow shawl, the color of the Hezbollah flag, with portraits of his slain brothers on each side. "Every war has a price," he says.
Hezbollah first began sending fighters in small numbers to Syria in 2012, to help protect Shiite shrines near the capital, Damascus, and has gradually escalated its involvement, dispatching fighters to ever more distant places to shore up the battered forces of Assad. Nearly 30 Hezbollah fighters were killed in one single battle around the city of Aleppo near the Turkish border last month.
"For Israel, this is a dream scenario. All its enemies are killing each other in Syria... without them having to fire a bullet or place even one soldier in the line of fire," said Yahya of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
She said although Hezbollah's overall control is not as tight as it used to be, the group is nowhere near a breaking point yet.
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Associated Press writer Aron Heller in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016 photo, Hanan Ibrahim, the mother of slain Hezbollah fighter Khalil Ibrahim, portrayed behind, who was killed in a Damascus suburb known as Ghouta, on Dec. 27, 2013, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at her home in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo, a letter reads in Arabic, "Thank you for each drop of blood. Thanks for your pure blood. Peace for your souls." and prayer beads left by a supporter of Hezbollah on the grave of Mahdi Daqiq, who was killed on Aug. 14, 2006 during fighting with Israel in 2006 war, in the southern village of Harees, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. Arabic on the grave reads, "Hezbollah." A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo Hisham Khanafer uses crutches as he arrives for an interview with The Associated Press wearing a scarf with the pictures of his brothers Moussa, left, who was killed on July 24, 2006 during a battle with Israeli troops in his village Aynata and Abbas, who was killed on May 15, 2015 in Syria, in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015 file photo, relatives and comrades pray as they surround the Hezbollah flag-draped coffins of Shiite fighters who were killed in Syria, during a rally to mark the 13th day of the Shiite mourning period of Muharram, in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo a huge poster showing portraits of Mahdi Daqiq, top, who was killed on Aug. 14, 2006 and his nephew Mohammed Daqiq, right, who was killed on July 24, 2006 during fighting with Israel in 2006 war and his nephew Ali Daqiq who was killed in Khalsa, southern Aleppo, on June 16, 2016, hangs on their family house, in the southern village of Harees, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. Arabic on the poster reads "Is this enough, God!!! Take until you're satisfied." A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
FILE - In this Saturday, May 9, 2015 file photo, a Hezbollah fighter stands on a hill next to the group's yellow flag in the fields of the Syrian town of Assal al-Ward in the mountainous region of Qalamoun, Syria. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Bassem Mroue, File)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo, Tayseer Daqiq prays at the graves of his brother Mahdi Daqiq, who was killed on Aug. 14, 2006 and his nephew Mohammed Daqiq, who was killed on July 24, 2006 during fighting with Israel in 2006 war, in the southern village of Harees, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016 photo, portraits of late Hezbollah senior military commanders and fighters who were killed during fighting with Israel in 2006 war and in Syria, hang on a wall at a cemetery in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 29, 2016. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo an Israeli armored vehicle patrols the Lebanese-Israeli border next to the village of Maroun el-Rass on the Lebanon-Israel border, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo Ali Ibrahim, father of Khalil Ibrahim who was killed in a Damascus suburb known as Ghouta, on Dec. 27, 2013, speaks on his mobile with the picture of his late son at his home, in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016 photo, Afif Jawad, 63, who lost eight members of his family including his, parents, sister, wife and four children, on July 24, 2006 when an air raid struck his home during the 2006 war, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press next to his family's graves at a cemetery in the southern village of Harees, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo a Hezbollah flag covers the bed of slain Hezbollah fighter Khalil Ibrahim, portrayed, who was killed in a Damascus suburb known as Ghouta, on Dec. 27, 2013, in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this Wednesday, June 29, 2016 photo, belongings of slain Hezbollah fighter Khalil Ibrahim, who was killed in Syria, are seen in a special closet at his parents home, in the southern village of Aynata, close to the town of Bint Jbail, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 file photo, a Hezbollah fighter, who refused to be identified, uses binoculars to scan for Israeli forces' positions, in the outskirts of the southern village of Aitaroun, close to the town of Bint Jbeil. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo / Mohammed Zaatari, File)
FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 7, 2014 file photo, Lebanese Hezbollah supporters carry pictures of Hezbollah fighters who were killed in battle in Syria and against Israel, during a rally to mark the 13th day of Ashoura, in the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon. A decade after it fought Israel in a devastating month-long war, the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah is in crisis, having been forced to join an unpopular, costly war to defend President Bashar Assad against rebels. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
