Report Says Hezbollah Has Deep Ties Inside the Lebanese Army
A News 14 investigation says the United States continues to back the Lebanese Army with support, training and equipment in an effort to present it as an alternative to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. But testimony from civilians, interviews and research cited in the report suggest that officers and soldiers in the army maintain close ties with the Shiite militant group and sometimes assist it on the ground, raising Israeli concerns about Hezbollah’s reach into command and intelligence systems and about weak enforcement against the army itself.
US envoy to Lebanon Morgan Ortagus said in an interview that Washington has provided the Lebanese Army with “support, training and equipment for decades,” and has continued doing so, adding that the US has even deployed military advisers inside Lebanon. Last month, after talks in Washington, Israel, Lebanon and the United States presented a joint understandings document that would give the Lebanese Army a chance to control areas in southern Lebanon instead of Hezbollah.
Yet the report says multiple signs point to coordination between parts of the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah. A Lebanese civilian identified only as M said, “The army is open. A large part of its soldiers are militia members who belong to Hezbollah. They are loyal to Hezbollah and, as a result, to Iran.” A video published in February 2024 showed Lebanese soldiers at a military checkpoint in southern Lebanon, with one saying, “Behind the checkpoint is the Zionist enemy. We are ready here. We are loyal to the Shiite tradition. At your command, Nasrallah!”
Retired senior Shiite officer Abdel-Rahman Shheitli said Hezbollah tried to pressure him over appointments, telling him, “We want a Shiite officer in this post.” Tal Bari, head of research at the Alma Center, said Hezbollah-linked officers avoid enforcing orders on the ground, claiming that visits to Hezbollah sites are usually coordinated in advance and that confiscated weapons are later returned to the group through a “revolving door.” He also said senior intelligence officer Suheil Harb passed information from the joint Israel, US and Lebanon command center to help Hezbollah move ammunition, and that Army Chief Rodolphe Haykal has been sharply criticized by Americans, who recently sanctioned Lebanese officers who cooperated with Hezbollah.
