"The bitter liberation": Return to southern Lebanon bittersweet for Hezb

"The bitter liberation." Al-Akhbar newspaper. — Screenshot.

The Hezbollah-affiliated paper al-Akhbar ran a cover entitled "The bitter liberation," showing scenes of the destruction of southern Lebanon from the intense fighting.

The paper's picture shows women and children walking among the destruction in part of southern Lebanon, sans any celebration or Hezbollah flag waving, attesting to a very muted sense of victory within Hezbollah circles over the IDF withdrawal.

This message stands in contrast with previous efforts by Hezbollah to organize triumphant marches by south Lebanese residents into villages evacuated by the IDF in accordance with the ceasefire, complete with waving of Hezbollah flags and slogans.

Ever since the ceasefire began, and even before, Hezbollah has tried to justify bringing about the war that caused so much destruction and displacement - tens if not hundreds of thousands of south Lebanese residents were forced to flee.

In addition, Hezbollah has promised to provide compensation for destroyed houses and property which were very often used as weapons storage areas and bases for the terrorist group, though they insisted that the Lebanese state was ultimately responsible for the lion's share of the reconstruction.

Hezbollah also said that compensation will be possible thanks to the "generosity" of Iran, while Israel has insisted that Iran can play no part in the reconstruction of southern Lebanon.

Indeed, Israel has also insisted that Iranian planes not land in Beirut airport lest they contain money meant to be smuggled in to help revitalize Hezbollah. This insistence has led to tensions, including a violent protest in Beirut against the Lebanese government policy of refusing Iranian planes permission to enter Lebanon.

The Lebanese government has insisted that Israel entirely leave Lebanon, including the five outposts it currently holds along the Lebanese side of the border. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has insisted, however, that Israel can only be forced to leave through diplomacy, not war.