Yesterday, members of Hizballah shot two Christian civilians dead in a Lebanese village after an automotive accident. On Sunday, the Israeli foreign minister—responding to the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s provocative behavior along the Israel-Lebanon border—told an Arabic language outlet that, if Hizballah doesn’t tread carefully, “Israel can send Lebanon back to the stone age.” The guerrilla group also plays a critical role in maintaining the systemic corruption that plagues Lebanon, and that has brought it to the brink of economic collapse. Matthew Levitt explains:

Let’s be clear, corruption is at the heart of Lebanon’s economic and political crises. This economic and political rot is deeply entrenched and is protected by powerful political bosses across the spectrum, and across Lebanon’s political and sectarian divide. All this threatens Lebanon’s near-, medium-, and long-term security and stability, and corruption is by no means limited to any one party in Lebanon. Yet, no Lebanese party presents a greater security threat to Lebanon domestically, and to its neighbors in the region, than Hizballah—in part because Hezbollah is the de-facto militant enforcer of the corrupt political system from which it and other sectarian political parties benefit.

Consider a few examples of the unique ways in which Hizballah undermines Lebanese security and stability and risks regional war. Hizballah has a dedicated element—Unit 121—whose sole purpose is to carry out assassinations in Lebanon of people that it doesn’t like. Think [of the former prime minister] Rafiq Hariri. Think [of the intelligence official] Wissam Eid. Think [of the activist] Lokman Slim, and a whole lot of other names that we don’t have time to go through.

Over the past few years, Hizballah has unilaterally declared parts of Lebanon to be its own independent military zones and denied the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) access to these areas, including areas near and along the Blue Line, the de-facto border. Hizballah regularly harasses UNIFIL forces, and in December, a Hizballah operative killed Private Sean Rooney, an Irish UNIFIL soldier.

Unlike many violent nonstate actors, which have only limited access to the formal economy and are heavily reliant on shadow economies, Hizballah is able to benefit from the formal, regulated economy and simultaneously run its own parallel, shadow economy, which sucks from and undermines the formal economy. Taken together, Hizballah’s shadow economy and parallel government structure undermine both political and economic stability in Lebanon and regional security across the Eastern Mediterranean.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.