Lebanese Government Competes With Hezbollah for Southern Lebanon's Reconstruction

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of military talks in Florida on October 20, under American auspices. Washington is currently working to maintain the Israeli-Lebanese channel and keep it active during the sensitive pre-election period. Concurrently, a significant development is unfolding on the ground in southern Lebanon, potentially indicating a deeper struggle for influence over the Shiite population's loyalty and reconstruction efforts.

The village of Zawtar al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon is becoming a pilot project for reconstruction following the withdrawal of the IDF and the entry of the Lebanese army. The Lebanese government, in coordination with the South Lebanon Council, is deploying mobile homes to the village, which is located in a Shiite area and whose local authority head is affiliated with the Amal movement. This initiative is particularly noteworthy because Hezbollah itself employed a similar model during the war, providing dozens of mobile homes to residents whose homes were destroyed, with assistance from the "Wata'awano" association and "Qard al-Hasan" bank.

The Lebanese government's current approach aims to bypass Hezbollah's established reconstruction mechanism. Instead of relying on associations linked to Hezbollah, the government is working through civil society organizations, according to "Al-Akhbar" newspaper. This strategy seeks to establish the state's presence in areas where Hezbollah has historically operated, thereby initiating a competition over reconstruction efforts: who provides the mobile homes, who finances them, who distributes them, and who receives credit from the residents.

An official Lebanese source told i24NEWS that there has been a "shift in the villages" towards greater support for the government, with the deployment of mobile homes seen as a move that circumvents Hezbollah and signals to Shiite residents that reconstruction can come through the state. This initiative is also being supported by civil society groups fundraising for hundreds more mobile homes. Hezbollah-aligned circles fear that the Zawtar al-Gharbiya model could expand to other southern villages.

For years, Hezbollah has built its influence within the Shiite community not only through its armed strength but also through a network of services, aid, and reconstruction. Following conflicts and destruction, Hezbollah was often the entity that reached destroyed homes, distributed funds, and provided housing solutions, making the population's dependence on it a political tool. The mobile homes provided by Hezbollah were part of this model. Now, the Lebanese government is attempting to create a competing model, emphasizing the state and civil society over Hezbollah and its affiliated organizations.

This development gains further significance amid recent reports from Nabatieh, where Shiite residents were seen gathering around Lebanese Prime Minister, expressing their unwavering support. While this does not yet signify a political upheaval or abandonment of Hezbollah among the Shiite community, it indicates that the long-standing equation of Hezbollah being the primary address for Shiite populations may be starting to crack. The mobile homes in Zawtar al-Gharbiya represent more than temporary housing; they are a test of whether the Lebanese state can assert influence in areas dominated by Hezbollah, not through military force, but through services and reconstruction. For the United States, this could be as crucial as the Florida talks, as it explores the potential for strengthening the Lebanese state at Hezbollah's expense, both socially and economically. If this mobile home model expands, it could become a key test for the "day after Hezbollah" scenario, questioning whether the official Lebanese government can provide what Hezbollah has offered for decades. The struggle for southern Lebanon is thus evolving from a contest over arms and positions to one over post-war rebuilding.