In the Khirbet Selm cemetery, portraits of Hezbollah "martyrs" who have recently fallen against Israel stand alongside faded portraits of fighters killed in previous wars waged by the "Islamic resistance." Perched on a hill in southern Lebanon, 10 kilometers as the crow flies from the border with Israel, this historic bastion of the "Party of Allah" has become a place of pilgrimage. Combatants in fatigues and families dressed in black came to pay their last respects to Wissam al-Tawil. A native of the village, the 48-year-old commander of the elite Radwan force was killed in an Israeli strike on January 8.
On the stage of the Shiite religious center, his son Hussein delivered the eulogy for his father, who was considered a hero, without giving way to emotion. The boy represents the new generation that Hassan Nasrallah wanted to glorify on Sunday, January 14, alongside those who have been "fighting for the liberation of Palestine" within Hezbollah since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. To the hundreds of activists who came to listen to him that day, via a screen, he promised resistance to Israel, but not total war.
His strategy has not changed since the Hezbollah leader outlined it on November 3, 2023. The elimination of Tawil and Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut led to a calculated response, based on the principle of reciprocity and respecting the tacit rules of engagement between the two belligerents. Maintaining a balance of force with Israel is the objective that Nasrallah has set himself in the confrontation he has initiated as a "support front" for his ally, Hamas.
Neither he nor his Iranian sponsor wants a war that could set the region ablaze. With his finger raised, the Shiite leader maintained his threat, but also extended a hand of compromise to Israel. The ball was now back in Israel's court, and it seemed ready to do battle. "Hezbollah has gained in maturity and flexibility. It's not going to let itself be dragged into a war it doesn't want. But we're at a dangerous turning point: Either we move towards a compromise, or Israel continues its escalation at the risk of spiraling out of control," said Kassem Kassir, a Lebanese expert with insider knowledge of the movement.
Nasrallah's silence in the first month of the war baffled supporters and enemies alike, both in Lebanon and abroad. They wondered where was the fiery, sometimes dramatic orator who announced the reprisals live during the 2006 conflict. From the bunker where he has been hiding ever since, the 63-year-old tried to explain in a measured tone about the war underway and the victory already won against Israel. The destruction of this enemy, "more fragile than a spider's web," and the liberation of Palestine would come in due course.
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