Sources: Hezbollah using the reconstruction card as a ploy to obstruct its disarmament.
Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special
**Arab Gulf - Follow-ups:** **Official Lebanese sources revealed that Hezbollah has begun a "last resort" after launching a large-scale reconstruction project for the southern regions with private funding consisting of 3 phases, through its institutions, including "Jihad al-Binaa" and "Waad," worth $3 billion.** **Government and political sources stated that the Hezbollah militia has replicated the plan of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's government, which will be implemented in partnership with friendly countries to rebuild the south and the areas destroyed by the recent Israeli war.** **The sources explained that the same plan is ready in the office of the Lebanese Prime Minister and relates to the return of the displaced, who are from Hezbollah's popular base, which the latter did not pay any attention to, nor to the conditions of their cities, homes, and jobs, by entering into a support war on the orders of Iran at the expense of the Lebanese interior.** **They confirmed that what has been released about the reconstruction project for the southern regions, which Hezbollah is working on with a value of $3 billion, is nothing more than a "maneuvering paper" and that it does not possess this amount in light of the financial strangulation it is subjected to after cutting off funding routes from abroad, in addition to facing financial problems internally regarding fulfilling the monthly obligations to its fighters and those injured in the "Bigger" operation.** **The sources indicated that "if Hezbollah had a quarter of this amount, it would have acted directly on the ground since its popular base was displaced throughout Lebanon, but it is trading with them."** **A high-level government source says, "The matter is a maneuvering paper from Hezbollah by talking about a reconstruction plan costing $3 billion, which is a carbon copy of the Nawaf Salam government's plan to rebuild the south, which is based on the disarmament of Hezbollah," noting that ministers from Hezbollah were briefed on the main lines of the government's reconstruction plan for the south months ago.** **The government source added that the government's plan to rebuild the south is based on attracting investments, grants, and aid from friendly Arab and Western countries, explaining that this plan naturally requires a peace agreement with Israel after the disarmament of Hezbollah in Lebanon, based on the deployment of the army and disarmament so that this massive reconstruction is not exposed to new threats and destruction.** **The government source confirmed that the reconstruction of the south is a priority for the Prime Minister and an indirect pressure that pushes him to implement the disarmament plan, because the support that will be provided to Lebanon at the level of investments and grants will not be in the presence of weapons that threaten to destroy what will be built with Arab and Western investments and grants.** **The government source explained that Hezbollah's maneuver is a manipulation of its "popular base" of displaced persons and refugees after their homes were destroyed, so that this environment remains captive to it after the suffering of the displaced and homeless has escalated amid promises from the Lebanese militia for months, none of which have been fulfilled.** **For his part, a Lebanese political source confirmed that promoting that Hezbollah will allocate $3 billion for reconstruction is nothing more than a maneuver preceded by a statement from Secretary-General Naim Qassem, coinciding with the visit of US envoy Thomas Barack two weeks ago, about allocating $1 billion for reconstruction, and it was clarified that it was only a maneuvering paper and burned quickly because everyone is aware of Hezbollah's capabilities at the present time.** **The source stated that this claim carries great exaggeration in light of the suffering and complex crises at the level of the organization related to obligations, as it has approximately 60,000 monthly salaries that it pays to fighters and full-time members, whose numbers reach 1,500, in addition to the families of the dead, victims, and injured, most of whom fell in the Bigger bombings, where there are large numbers suffering from disabilities and those who lost their eyes and hands and need monthly expenses to secure their lives.** **According to the source, in addition to this, there are also the burdens of the displaced and refugees, as there are statistics that more than 300,000 housing units have been leveled to the ground in the south, and on the other hand, money is paid to many of the displaced to rent homes to live in until reconstruction begins.** **The source mentioned that "there are 35 villages that have been wiped off the face of the earth in southern Litani, and there is no longer any trace of a house or infrastructure, and it has become barren land that is not habitable."** **The source spoke about "such talk being a manipulation of the displaced popular base by Hezbollah, and if it were capable of this reconstruction, it would have started it immediately after the end of the war and done so as happened after the 2006 war, when it had the money, as the work of removing rubble began quickly hours after Hassan Nasrallah's speech regarding reconstruction, and organizations affiliated with Hezbollah drew up engineering plans and reconstruction immediately."** **He pointed out that "what reflects this maneuver and that it is trading with the supporting environment is that Hezbollah's treasury is suffering to the extent that it is waiting for simple amounts, i.e., from 10 to 20 million dollars, to smuggle them into the country in suitcases and they are seized in the end, in order to provide the required obligations regarding its fighters, who are the most important to it, compared to past years when money was transferred to it from its investments and foreign economy through Syria in trucks."** **The political source added that Beirut airport is under strict surveillance and any plane carrying Iranians or Iraqis is subjected to all the complicated inspection procedures, and the port as well regarding inspection, and the same is true for the Syrian borders, and therefore the possibility of smuggling money to Hezbollah has become very difficult and is just exaggeration, according to him.**
