A radical change in Hezbollah’s “environment.” 66% support handing over weapons

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In a remarkable change within what is known as Hezbollah's "environment", a recent opinion poll conducted by the "Statistics Lebanon" Foundation showed that 66.4% of participants from the Shiite community in Lebanon supported handing over Hezbollah's weapons to the state, compared to 29.6% who preferred the party to keep its weapons according to the current situation.

The results of the poll, which was conducted last September, also showed that 67.4% of participants saw that Hezbollah did not achieve its goals in the war with Israel, or that it achieved only part of them, while 42.1% expressed negative feelings about the party’s leadership’s handling of the war and its repercussions.

As for security institutions, the survey showed that 78.5% of participants trust the Lebanese army, while 71.1% believed that the decision on war and peace should be the exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state.

Regarding security arrangements with Israel, 17% supported the possibility of reaching a security agreement that guarantees border security, while 24.9% preferred a security agreement sponsored by a third party.

The survey included 800 Lebanese citizens from the Shiite sect, aged 18 years and over, in different regions of the country, according to data published by the implementing agency.

These results came as the Lebanese authorities continue to emphasize that they are moving forward with the decision to restrict weapons to the state, in addition to the decision of peace and war.

These results also came as a result of the widespread destruction that occurred in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon, as a result of the war that Hezbollah opened at the beginning of last March, after launching missiles towards Israel, in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded with massive raids that targeted the south and the Bekaa, as well as the capital, Beirut, and its southern suburbs. Its forces also penetrated a wide border strip that included dozens of Lebanese towns, with extensive razing of villages, residential homes, civilian facilities, and schools.

Following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, on Israeli settlements and military bases in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah also opened the southern Lebanese front in solidarity with the Palestinian Strip, according to what he said, which led to widespread and violent Israeli attacks on various areas in Lebanon, causing significant material and human losses. This exacerbated the wave of criticism of the Iranian-backed party.