The two minarets of the Majdel Selm mosque still point, miraculously, towards the sky. The ships, like the surrounding buildings, were, at best, gutted, if not leveled, by Israeli shells. At the foot of the religious building, a group of men, whose style of dress leaves no doubt about their membership in Hezbollah, observes the incessant parade of cars that take the main street of the Shiite city, on Thursday, November 28, raising clouds white. dust. The men get out of their vehicles to give them a warm hug, happy to count them among the living.
Thanks to the ceasefire declared the day before between Israel and Lebanon, the 15,000 inhabitants of this bastion of the Party of God, located 5 kilometers from the demarcation line, returned to a city that the war had made unrecognizable. The Majdel Selm fighters had already joined the front opened by Hezbollah against Israel, in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in October 2023, when bombings began to rain down on the city a year later, on the occasion of the launch of a major military operation by Israel.
“Majdel Selm was 90% destroyed in two months. This is pure revenge. Because we gave a lot to the resistance. Because Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah [l’ancien chef du Hezbollah, tué par Israël, le 27 septembre] He often spoke about Majdel Selm »says Mohammed Alaa Eddin, nephew of a local councillor, posted in the square. Dressed in a T-shirt, a black uniform and a pair of combat boots, the 33-year-old leads the residents. Confirm the number of victims: 65 combatants and 14 civilians died as “martyrs.”
However, in their eyes, Hezbollah’s victory is definitive. “The Israelis have not managed to gain a foothold in the city. They stopped on the hill opposite, in Tallousseh.”says the young man. “The resistance was faced by Israelis, Americans and even Emirati pilots, adds Abdelatif Hamza, a 66-year-old jeweler, convinced of the veracity of this rumor. We return to our homes, to our land: so it’s a victory! »
“A simple political party”
The Party of God cultivates the image of resilience in the absence of “victory” more surprising, as during the previous war in 2006. This time, Israel has clearly demonstrated its military superiority and undermined the myth of an overwhelming Hezbollah, capable of imposing a balance of deterrence with the help of its Iranian godfather. The Israeli army estimates it has killed between 2,500 and 3,500 Hezbollah fighters and 14 of its leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah. The Israeli intelligence services penetrated the heart of the “axis of resistance”, expelled its leaders and commanders. The Jewish State’s aviation has wreaked unprecedented desolation on the strongholds of the Shiite party, bringing it to its knees and testing its relationship with the base.
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