Hezbollah Should Know It Has Been Defeated – OpEd |
By Khaled Abou Zahr
Hezbollah is on a losing streak. Not only did it lose most of its military might in the 2024 war with Israel, but now — finally — its global criminal activities have been indirectly hit by Nicolas Maduro’s removal as president of Venezuela.
As many reports have highlighted, Venezuela was a key base for Hezbollah’s global operations. Last week’s developments were good news, but it puts the group in an even more desperate situation. And it remains powerful enough to threaten the Lebanese people.
Despite this week’s declaration by the Lebanese foreign minister that the country’s army is capable of facing Hezbollah if necessary, the reality is that the militia is capable of inflicting pain on Lebanon, even if ultimately, like every similar group in history, it is bound to disappear.
As Hezbollah relies greatly on its illegal operations for its finances, the fact that Maduro has been removed will have an impact. Hezbollah’s operations in Venezuela now face major disruption. It has been widely reported that the group operates a network of illicit financial and logistical activities with the complicity of the state. This includes money laundering, narcotics trafficking and........