After the Lebanese government outlawed Hezbollah’s military activity in the country, local media are reporting the next step: Official media outlets will no longer refer to the terrorist organization as “resistance.”
Official media in Lebanon stops calling Hezbollah “resistance.” The Lebanese newspaper “Al-Madoun” reported today (Monday) that the Lebanese Minister of Information, Paul Murkus, has instructed to delete the word “resistance” from media content broadcast and published in the official Lebanese media in the context of the terrorist organization, and to be content with only the word “Hezbollah.”
This move, which comes in the wake of the government’s decision to outlaw Hezbollah’s military activity in the country, is expected to be reflected in the three official media outlets in Lebanon – Lebanese State Television, Lebanese State Radio and the official Lebanese News Agency. The newspaper noted that this directive is “a very important turning point in the concepts of Lebanese media,” since Lebanon no longer recognizes the “resistance,” and Hezbollah has lost the political umbrella it had on the official level.
A few days after the outbreak of Operation “The Roar of the Lion” and Hezbollah’s joining the campaign, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam attacked the terrorist organization and announced a ban on its military activity. “Lebanon condemns the launch of the rockets for which Hezbollah has accepted responsibility, it is contrary to the principle of limiting the decision of peace and war to the hands of the Lebanese state, and is contrary to opposition to Lebanon’s involvement in the current regional war. In addition, the launch constitutes an action against the government’s decisions, and against the will of the majority of Lebanese.”
Last week, we published in the Kan News edition that Israel is conducting indirect dialogue with the Lebanese government, in which it has placed a demand on the Lebanese army to begin operating against Hezbollah even during the war – otherwise Israel will damage the country’s national infrastructure. A Lebanese politician who spoke this week with our correspondent Roy Qais said that an Israeli refusal to negotiate directly with Beirut is a “strategic mistake.” According to him, “the very fact of sitting down for such direct negotiations would be a slap in the face to Hezbollah, and would undermine the remaining excuses for its existence.”
Meanwhile, after the threats from Israel, the IDF announced this morning that it had officially launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, with the aim of eliminating Hezbollah terrorists in the area and “establishing a front line of defense” that would remove the threat of close-range fire from northern communities. Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the start of the maneuver and said: “Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated and are evacuating their homes will not return south to the Litani area until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed.”