Hezbollah's heartlands face internal revolt, as Lebanese clans look to the future - report

While the IDF confronts Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the organization reportedly faces an internal revolt in the east. Several clans in eastern Lebanon, which form the heart of Hezbollah's military reserves, have begun to question the value the party brings them.

Prominent clans and families in the Baalbek-Hermel area began discussions with one another to form a core working group in an organization called the "Clan and Families Coalition," according to a report in Saudi channel Al Arabiya on Sunday.

The clans currently moving away from Hezbollah have served as the manpower reserve of the organization for decades, however, concerns that Hezbollah has dragged the tribes into a progressively deteriorating security situation are forcing many to reconsider their support.

Sources told Al Arabiya that planning for the group had been in place for some time and that each of the major clans had been asked to nominate three representatives to the coalition as they prepare for its launch.

Those same sources indicated that they were in talks to incorporate other Arab clans in northern Lebanon, with the aim of including as many Lebanese clans as possible.

The group said they were aiming at to support the Lebanese state in its initiative of restricting the possession of arms to government forces, enforcing Lebanese sovereignty in the face of foreign interference, and increasing security cooperation with Syria to prevent any party from threatening security and stability.

They emphasized that they also wished to disentangle the Shia community from the "enmity" of other Arab groups brought upon it by Hezbollah.

In the past, both sides benefited from the relationship. The clans received political and religious cover in an area where the state's authority was mostly absent, while Hezbollah received on-the-ground support in addition to manpower. Although, as Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar highlights, this cooperation wasn't without speed bumps. Hezbollah's zealous, disciplined vertical hierarchy would often clash with the clans' traditional horizontal tribal organization.

Reports also indicate that anti-drug-smuggling operations operations are factoring into the calculus. As the Assad-era industrial Captagon factories are dismantled, the clans no longer have a reason to maintain this politically costly relationship.

The clans were spurred by rumors of a possible intervention in Lebanon by Syrian forces, leading the US to open channels with Lebanese tribes aimed at neutralizing Hezbollah's roots in the region.

"These clans constitute, to a large extent, a crucial human and military reservoir that supplies Hezbollah with personnel and field capabilities at various junctures, such as its intervention in Syria and the protection of border supply lines," according to An-Nahar.

These issues have become more pressing in recent days as the IDF confronts Hezbollah at Ali al-Taher Hill while simultaneously striking Al-Duhur Air Base in northern Syria, raising questions about the scope of Israeli-Syrian cooperation in Lebanon.