In well-hidden laboratories across southern Lebanon, Hezbollah recruits stir amphetamines together with cheap chemicals in large stainless steel pots. The result is Captagon, the so-called “cocaine of the poor”. Once finished, the drug will be sold to Gulf nations and the profits – in the tens of millions of dollars – used to fund terrorism.
Drug trafficking is forbidden by Islam. But Hezbollah has developed a pragmatic approach to the issue. The organisation does not manufacture the drug for the Muslims themselves, but for the “enemies of Islam” – the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, where the Sunni regime is a political and religious rival to the Shias represented by Hezbollah and Iran.
Israel is striking Hezbollah as it has never done before. Extensive military attacks, targeted assassinations of senior commanders, and destruction of critical infrastructure have badly shaken the organisation. But it is not completely destroyed.
It is reasonable to assume that at some point, Hezbollah will look for a way to a ceasefire or an arrangement, with the understanding that it cannot bear the continued heavy losses.
International pressure, especially American pressure, will be exerted on Israel to accept one. It is likely that Israel will eventually be forced to agree to a cessation of hostilities, without completely toppling Hezbollah. This will be a critical opportunity to ensure that Hezbollah does not quickly regain strength and become a strategic threat again.
In well-hidden laboratories across southern Lebanon, Hezbollah recruits stir amphetamines together with cheap chemicals in large stainless steel pots. The result is Captagon, the so-called “cocaine of the poor”. Once finished, the drug will be sold to Gulf nations and the profits – in the tens of millions of dollars – used to fund terrorism.
Drug trafficking is forbidden by Islam. But Hezbollah has developed a pragmatic approach to the issue. The organisation does not manufacture the drug for the Muslims themselves, but for the “enemies of Islam” – the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, where the Sunni regime is a political and religious rival to the Shias represented by Hezbollah and Iran.
Israel is striking Hezbollah as it has never done before. Extensive military attacks, targeted assassinations of senior commanders, and destruction of critical infrastructure have badly shaken the organisation. But it is not completely destroyed.
It is reasonable to assume that at some point, Hezbollah will look for a way to a ceasefire or an arrangement, with the understanding that it cannot bear the continued heavy losses.
International pressure, especially American pressure, will be exerted on Israel to accept one. It is likely that Israel will eventually be forced to agree to a cessation of hostilities, without completely toppling Hezbollah. This will be a critical opportunity to ensure that Hezbollah does not quickly regain strength and become a strategic threat again.