Franceinfo was able to meet a high-ranking fighter from the Lebanese Shiite militia who has been fighting in the south of the country against Israel since October.
At the slightest metallic noise, he stiffened in his chair. He imagines an intrusion. Thinks he hears a gunshot. It’s a spoon that has just fallen to the ground. In this café in Beirut, the man sitting across from us is a special customer. Beneath his appearance as a tidy family man hides a member of the Hezbollah special forces, whose armed wing is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations. This Sunday in January, this man, whose name we must not mention, is taking advantage of his last hours of “permission”. In a few days, he will pack up again, heading for southern Lebanon. He will find other men from the Shiite militia there and his “always enemy” : the Israeli army.
From him, nothing, absolutely nothing should filter through. Especially not his true identity. Prohibition on referring to “this bullet hole” causing a scar several centimeters long somewhere on his body. The 58-year-old doesn’t like journalists, “especially Westerners, obviously pro-Israel”. He prefers to double-check that we are not recording, that we are not filming, that we are not taking a photo. He puts his index finger under his neck, execution style: “If Israel finds me, I am dead.”
:quality(50)/2024/01/19/000-349g3wh-65aa6b86c789d653873285.jpg)
It was urgently requisitioned in South Lebanon on October 7, the day after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israeli soil, which triggered the IDF offensive in the Gaza Strip. He began serving under the orders of the “Party of God” 20 years ago, just before the war in the summer of 2006, already against the Jewish state. Today, he says, his “philosophy” is the same: “I take up arms for the defense of Lebanon against our eternal enemy: Israel. The children of Gaza are like our children.”
Bombings along the Blue Line, which separates Israel from Lebanon, are now daily. And murderers: already 177 victims in mid-February, according to figures obtained by franceinfo from the Lebanese authorities. The Ministry of Health tells us that its assessment does not take into account the victims caused by the Israeli air raids on Wednesday.
The man sitting opposite us said himself that he “comes close to death every day”, and even “morning noon and evening”. As soon as he hears the buzz of an Israeli drone, he hides in the trees, “the best camouflage in the world”. When a missile whistles, it takes cover “in a house”, “among the villagers”.
As a shooter, he says the Cornet anti-tank missile is his specialty. No visible cables, a range of more than five kilometers, and an extremely deadly warhead. “I target border guards Israelis, but never civilians”, he swears. Generally, the first shots ring out mid-morning and this continues until nightfall.
Among the bar customers, he caught two cups of coffee to recreate military positions in the style of the game Risk : “This one is us. This one is Israel.” The sugar bowl serves as a border, the spoons as missiles. The utensils show that in the hills of South Lebanon, Hezbollah controls everything: the army and the police are no longer part of the landscape.
Paid by Hezbollah to fight
To make themselves forgotten by Israel, Hezbollah special forces ensure “rotations”. Six to seven days of “mission”, then three to four days of rest, and so on. “Normally, I am ordered not to tell anyone about what I saw and what I did”, specifies our interlocutor, who says he has taken a vow of silence. In real life, it benefits from coverage: “Officially, I’m a merchant.”
In reality, according to our information, Hezbollah pays him between 1,000 and 1,500 dollars per month. Or between three and four times more than the average salary in Lebanon. The Islamic movement “always paid his men well, confirms Didier Leroy, researcher at the Royal Military School of Belgium and Hezbollah specialist. Shiites, who espouse the ideas of Hezbollah, therefore prefer to join the militia rather than the Lebanese army. It’s more financially advantageous.” The money, in fact, comes largely from neighboring Iran, which supports the Islamist group politically and militarily. But “there are also different more or less legal channels”adds Didier Leroy.
“There is the import-export of second-hand cars abroad, semi-precious stones, textiles, narcotics, alms, personal donations from the diaspora abroad…”
Didier Leroy, Hezbollah specialistat franceinfo
With the years, “Hezbollah has grown militarily”, analyzes a soldier from UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force which patrols southern Lebanon to dissuade belligerents from shooting. He became tougher, he acquired weapons, skills. His men are more mobile too. Their behavior can at times come close to that of a regular army.”
At least 100,000 fighters
In early January, the Israeli Prime Minister suggested that Hezbollah had to “learn what Hamas has already learned in recent months: no terrorist is safe.” “I am ready to die for the cause”replies the Hezbollah shooter over his tea. “Israel is not aware of the reserves of men ready to join us in the South”he assures, adjusting his hoodie.
The exact figure is unknown. In 2021, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed a strength of 100,000 men. “The general feeling is that this figure is overestimatedexplain Filippo Dionigi, Middle East specialist who teaches at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom). But given Hezbollah’s involvement in conflicts like Syria and the current confrontation with Israel, we can be sure that its military capability is significant.” Didier Leroy puts forward the figure of 25,000 to 30,000 full-time fighters. “If we add those part-time, reservists,sympathizers who have a Kalashnikov under their bed, who are ready to fight from one day to the next, then yes, we reach the 75,000, even 90,000 men.”
While waiting to receive his departure order, the man in front of us watches videos of his “past exploits”, weapons in hand. We see him firing bursts of Kalashnikovs hidden behind a hangar in Syria, shooting into the air in Beirut… Hezbollah’s military hierarchy has already warned him: “I was told that the duration of my missions could soon increase to fifteen days non-stop.” A few minutes later, the interview ends. Before leaving the café, he looks at the control screens connected to the video surveillance cameras which overlook the establishment’s parking lot. Nobody expects it: “The way is clear”he said, leaving in a hurry.