Hezbollah is currently at a crossroads. On the one hand, the US is pressuring Lebanon to disarm it. On the other hand, its members continue to be struck by precision airstrikes.
Hezbollah feels it is both empowered and under attack. It also knows that Lebanon has created a kind of catch-22 about disarming it.
Lebanese leaders have indicated that they can only move forward with disarmament if Israel stops the strikes. Israel won’t stop the strikes until Hezbollah disarms.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah commanders are said to be getting plastic surgery, according to Saudi Arabian news channel Al Hadath. The goal of the report may be to embarrass Hezbollah more than telling about its commanders getting plastic surgery.
Nevertheless, it’s also plausible that Hezbollah leaders might resort to this method. In the past, rumors have persisted about cartel members in Mexico doing the same thing.
“Dozens of senior Hezbollah operatives, some wounded in last year’s war with Israel, have reportedly undergone facial reconstruction in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon to conceal their identities as tensions along the border mount once again,” Ynet reported. “Senior Hezbollah officials have undergone plastic surgery to conceal their identities after being targeted in Israeli drone strikes, Saudi news channel Al Hadath reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the Lebanese terrorist group.”
Parades make hiding difficult
Would dozens of men need plastic surgery to hide their identities? The problem with Hezbollah is its tendency to have parades and keep close records of its members. As such, its leaders are often known, and it isn’t that secretive.
Getting plastic surgery would mean they now need to hide and not appear in parades; otherwise, they will simply be recognized again as Hezbollah members.
More confusingly, if they got plastic surgery, it might mean that two men would then be recorded as holding the same position when, in fact, there is only one man who has changed his appearance. It may not help Hezbollah that much to create such confusion.
The larger story is that it portrays Hezbollah as on the run and infiltrated once again. Hezbollah was already infiltrated in the past, as was revealed by the exploding pagers that harmed so many of its officers and commanders. The terrorist organization likely fears that it can’t keep its senior members safe.
The report embarrasses Hezbollah as a time when it is trying to decide on its next steps. Hezbollah doesn’t want to disarm. The US, however, is making it increasingly clear to Beirut that the US wants to see progress on disarmament.