An interesting report and analysis published on Monday in the Lebanese newspaper Nidaa Al-Watan (Call of the Nation), which is associated with the opponents of  Hezbollah, outlines the deterioration of Hezbollah’s image among the Shiite sector in Lebanon.

Over the years, Hezbollah promised the Shiites to “enter the Galil and Jerusalem” but instead, the Shiites woke up to a “great disaster” that destroyed their regions and prevented them from returning to their towns south of the Litani. “It was a great shock as Hezbollah revealed itself to be a ‘paper tiger,’ and as a result, the barrier of fear was broken – not only among its opponents but even within the Lebanese Shiite public,” the report said.

The report continues quoting sources indicating that “a significant portion” of the Shiite community in the south has filed lawsuits against Hezbollah.

Many Shiites affiliated with Hezbollah, some of whom reside in the south and some abroad, have approached the courts in southern Lebanon and filed lawsuits against Hezbollah accusing it of storing missiles, weapons, and munitions beneath residential buildings and among civilians, and of digging tunnels in towns that passed under their homes without their knowledge, leading to their destruction by the IDF.

However, since Hezbollah controls part of the judiciary, most of the lawsuits against it were dismissed on the judicial pretext that “judges have no jurisdiction over such claims,” which led some residents to file a complaint against Hezbollah with the Attorney General after receiving legal advice.

According to Erem News, the residents are now cooperating to file a class-action lawsuit, which would protect them from retaliation from Hezbollah. Attorney Bashir Al-Bassam told Erem News that the case would mark the first time that the people of south Lebanon publicly expressed their ire at Hezbollah for destroying their homes and villages, and it would also be the first time in Lebanon that a lawsuit of this magnitude is filed against a terrorist organization.

The lawyer said the plaintiffs’ demands “include holding accountable those responsible for violating the sanctity of homes and towns that were turned into weapons depots and military headquarters, as well as agricultural lands that were turned into tunnels.”

“There are also demands to hold accountable the Hezbollah members who took refuge in homes and entered them without permission from their owners, which led to their bombing or complete destruction. Finally, there is, of course, a demand for financial compensation for all those affected.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)