Hezballah grabs strategic area around Beirut

Guardian:

Hizbullah yesterday took control of a strategic mountain-top village in Druze heartlands south-east of the capital after fierce fighting with government allies, consolidating strategic gains that analysts said would be used in confrontations with Israel.

"Hizbullah will very soon spread all over. They will not leave any strategic part of the country in the hands of their so-called enemies," said Ahmad Moussali, a professor at the American University of Beirut and an expert on Islamist groups.

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week branded the western-backed, Sunni-led government "Israelis dressed in suits speaking Arabic", after ministers ordered a crackdown on his group's secure telecoms system. In response, Shia Hizbullah fighters and allies overran Sunni strongholds in west Beirut, then withdrew following a government climbdown.

Despite calls for a ceasefire, Hizbullah fighters defeated militants loyal to Druze leader Waleed Jumblatt in clashes starting on Sunday night, gaining control of Niha, a village in the southern Chouf mountains, 25 miles south-east of Beirut.

Analysts said the village provides the Iranian-backed group, also an ally of Damascus, with a crucial link between its stronghold in the eastern Bekaa Valley and the coastal highway that leads to Hizbullah's bases in Beirut's southern suburbs.

"Hizbullah have shown they are not interested in unseating Jumblatt but rather opening a possible supply route between Bekaa and the southern suburbs," said Ousama Safa, director of Beirut's Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies. "They can now use the area as a second front, behind the Bekaa."

On Sunday Hizbullah fighters took over key positions in Aley, a Druze town north of the Chouf, which abuts the main Beirut-Damascus highway, giving them control of another key artery. Both Druze areas have since been turned over to the army, which has a longstanding agreement on military cooperation with Hizbullah over Israel.

...

This appears to be a preliminary to further aggression by Iran's proxy force in Lebanon. The area appears to be of more importance to the Lebanese government than it would be to Israel. All these positions would be vulnerable to Israeli air strikes.

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