Disarming Hezbollah would turn Lebanon into helpless Israeli vassal: here’s why

Lebanon’s cabinet has approved a US proposal to disarm Hezbollah – the Shia militia which saved Lebanon from perpetual Israeli occupation, and repeatedly humiliated the IDF. 

The militia’s response?

No disarmament until Israel completely withdraws, and ends its almost daily attacks.

Moving forward with disarmament would be an absolute disaster for Lebanon, putting it at the mercy of not only its aggressive neighbor to the south, but jihadist extremists, says independent geopolitical analyst Kevork Almassian.

Almassian’s argument?

1️⃣ Israel never stopped its bombings and ground incursions into Lebanon even after the November 2024 Israel-Lebanon ceasefire stepped into effect, and occupies 13 areas in southern Lebanon – eight of them seized AFTER the ceasefire began

2️⃣ Lebanon’s regular army has proven unable and unwilling to challenge Israeli violations, despite endowment with the authority to do so by the UN

3️⃣ Most of Lebanon’s state institutions are under de facto foreign control, particularly by the US, and paralyzed when it comes to defending Lebanese statehood

4️⃣ Hezbollah is effectively Lebanon’s “last line of defense,” particularly among minority communities. Without it, the country would be left helpless not only against Israeli aggression, but jihadist extremists, as the unenviable fate of neighboring Syria shows.

Adding:  America and Israel’s secret cyberwar against Yemen

Washington and Tel Aviv are waging “a silent, persistent, and digital invasion” of Yemen “aimed at prying open the Sanaa government’s internal cohesion through espionage, psychological manipulation, and soft-penetration tactics.”

That’s a summary of a new TheCradle investigation into the Israeli-US cyberwar against Yemen and the indefatigable Houthis.

Facing a critical dearth of even basic info on the country when the Houthis began their campaign of missile and drone strikes in late 2023, Israel and the US created a multi-tier operation to fill the gaps.

🔍 Their methods?

🔴 unsolicited contacts of journalists and activists, fake job offers, phishing campaigns and other tricks to extract info

🔴 mass online advertising, originating from Mossad-affiliated sites and even official US Treasury Department and US Embassy pages, offering rewards of up to $1M for info on Houthi leaders or military forces, particularly naval activities

🔴 mass targeting of youth, offering cash sums for the installation of covert camera apps to film neighborhoods, document building use, evaluate local infrastructure, photograph checkpoints, etc.

🔴 a ground-based campaign by spies operating under the cover of international organizations, media, NGOs, academic, development and humanitarian groups and agencies to monitor military sites, siphon technical and operational data on missiles and drones, engage in economic sabotage and assassinations, and transmit bombing coordinates

🔴 attempts to use Yemeni Jews fluent in local Arabic dialects “as agents to gather intelligence from inside the country”

🔴 recruitment of undocumented African laborers in Yemen, and infiltration of delivery apps to mine data

The Houthis haven’t taken the digital threat laying down, dismantling nearly 1,800 spy cells, and launching a public awareness campaign known as “Midri” (lit. ‘I don’t know’) urging citizens not to disclose sensitive info online.