The crack inside the stronghold: Clans in Lebanon unite against Hezbollah

Criticism and anger over Hezbollah's policy are no longer limited to individuals from within the organization's social environment, and now an attempt is emerging to establish a framework with public weight that will act against it on the political level. This was reported by Al-Arabiya.

According to the report, clans and large families in the Baalbek-Hermel district in eastern Lebanon have begun holding contacts to establish a joint framework called the "Association of Clans and Families," in which there will be representatives from every major clan and family. The goal of the organization is to publish an official and unified position against Hezbollah's policy. Sources among the clans and families in the region told Al-Arabiya that the contacts began some time ago, and that every clan and large family was asked to propose three names to represent it in the new framework ahead of its launch. According to them, the organization is not expected to remain limited to Baalbek-Hermel.

At the same time, contacts have also begun with Arab clans in the Western Bekaa and the Akkar region in northern Lebanon, with the goal of joining as many old and influential families and clans as possible to the movement. The sources explained that one of the goals of the move is to voice an official voice against what they define as Hezbollah's policy, which they claim has placed members of the Shiite sect in problematic relations with other groups in Lebanese society, and also in a position contrary to the decisions of the state and its institutions. According to them, the organization's policy also contributed to the worsening of tensions with Arab countries and the Gulf, and primarily with Syria.

They also said that against the background of the security and political escalation in Lebanon and the region, there is a need for an initiative that will express support for the state and its official decisions, and especially for the principle that weapons should be concentrated in the hands of the Lebanese army. The organization is also expected to call for respecting Lebanon's sovereignty and refraining from interference in its internal affairs. Regarding Syria, the sources emphasized the need to support a diplomatic path in relations between Beirut and Damascus, while respecting the sovereignty of both countries and preventing a situation in which any factor threatens the security and stability of the neighboring state.

According to the sources, their goal is also to "take the Shiite sect out of the circle of hostility" towards parts of Lebanese society and towards Arab countries, and in particular Syria. According to them, it is Hezbollah that led the sect to this situation, while most of the other sects in Lebanon are currently standing alongside the state and its institutions. The sources also rejected claims that began to be heard from factors identified with Hezbollah, according to which the new organization was established under American direction with the goal of tightening pressure on the organization. According to them, the initiative was born out of concern for the future of the Shiite sect, which, according to them, "Hezbollah took to a place that does not resemble it historically."

For years, Hezbollah provided political backing and a public umbrella to the clans in Baalbek-Hermel, and presented itself as a factor that provides them with social protection during periods when the presence of the state and its institutions in the region was limited. However, according to the report, the tension that worsened in Lebanon following Hezbollah's decisions to enter the country into military confrontations without an official decision by state institutions increased the criticism of the organization, and now it is beginning to receive organized and political expression as well.