A Hezbollah source requesting anonymity said the group had gone \u201call in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t Either Hezbollah \u201cis finished or it establishes a new equation involving Israel\u2019s complete withdrawal from Lebanon and a halt to its attacks,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n The source said Hezbollah decided to fight months ago but was waiting for a change in the regional status quo, \u201cwhich it found in the US-Israeli war on Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n The group, he added, \u201cknows well that whatever the outcome of that war, its turn would come and Israel would not hesitate to launch a broad campaign against it.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel kept striking Lebanon after the 2024 ceasefire, killing around 500 people, including many fighters from Hezbollah, which initially refrained from retaliating.<\/p>\n Hezbollah \u201cabsorbed shocks after the previous war, bandaged its wounds\u2026 and reorganized its ranks. And today it is fighting a battle that it is prepared for,\u201d the group\u2019s source said.<\/p>\n Hezbollah\u2019s leadership has denied that the battle\u2019s timing was linked to the Iran war, instead saying it lost patience with Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n But that hasn\u2019t convinced officials or swathes of the population who have expressed increasing anger at the group for dragging Lebanon into a new war.<\/p>\n Military expert Hassan Jouni said that for Hezbollah, \u201cthis is an existential battle\u2026 so it will fight until the last breath.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor Israel, this is the final battle against Hezbollah,\u201d he said, noting the current circumstances, which Israel sees as an opportunity to destroy its foe, may not reappear.<\/p>\n \t He pointed to factors including the favorable regional and international situation under \u201cthe administration of US President Donald Trump\u201d, and a badly weakened Iran.<\/p>\n Lebanese authorities are committed to disarming Hezbollah after the 2024 ceasefire and the army has been dismantling the group\u2019s infrastructure near the Israeli border.<\/p>\n Last week, Beirut banned Hezbollah\u2019s military and security activities, and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has accused Hezbollah of working to \u201ccollapse\u201d the state \u201cfor the sake of the Iranian regime\u2019s calculations.\u201d<\/p>\n Until just before Hezbollah entered the conflict, Lebanese officials were unaware of the group\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n Shortly before the first rockets were fired on March 2, Hezbollah sent a delegation to inform its ally parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a source familiar with the meeting told AFP on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Hezbollah surprised friends and foes with its attacks, after the battering its leadership and arsenal took in the 2024 conflict, and the loss of its major supply route through Syria with the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n \t Last week, the Israeli military\u2019s international spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel, Nadav Shoshani said Hezbollah still has \u201csignificant amounts of weapons that endanger Israeli civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the already enormous cost to Lebanon in destruction and displacement, mainly from areas seen as Hezbollah heartlands where the group is usually celebrated as victorious, it has insisted on carrying on.<\/p>\n President Aoun has received no response to his proposal of direct negotiations with Israel, which has kept up threats of further destruction unless authorities disarm Hezbollah and stop its attacks.<\/p>\n To academic and lawyer Ali Mourad, \u201cHezbollah\u2019s priority was to open a Lebanese front in the service of the Iranian agenda, after holding back\u201d since 2024.<\/p>\n The group is fighting \u201can existential battle on two fronts: the Lebanese front and its (Iranian) ally\u2019s political, ideological and strategic front,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cHezbollah is finished as a regional power and as a strategic weapon\u201d for Iran, he added, predicting that \u201cthis war will not end in victory\u201d for the group.<\/p>\n Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tMourners carry the bodies of Hezbollah fighters who were killed by Israeli airstrikes during their funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/F260314MG38-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIsraeli military vehicles and tanks are seen in Northern Israel, Upper Galilee, amidst the ongoing war between Israel-US and Iran and Hezbollah, March 14, 2026. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/F260314MG01-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tPeople inspect the damage at the scene where a missile fired toward Israel caused damage in Hazor HaGlilit, northern Israel, March 14, 2026. (Michael Giladi\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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