Here, the Lebanese authorities face a highly dangerous equation. If they strongly confront Hezbollah, they fear an internal explosion. If they do not, they risk losing American and Israeli trust in their ability to fulfill their commitments, potentially making Hezbollah the side with which direct negotiations take place, allowing it to gain its desires within the system’s structure and angering other Lebanese groups that will again find themselves bearing the cost. The fear of confronting Hezbollah may therefore lead to precisely the outcome the authorities are trying to avoid.
