Hezbollah struggles to stop ‘wave of desertions,’ ready for concessions to bring about truce - report

The Hezbollah terrorist organization is struggling to stem a wave of desertions among the ranks of its fighters, including its elite Radwan Force, the Arabic-language news channel Elaph reported on Sunday.

In another sign potentially highlighting the terror group’s dire situation, Lebanon’s parliament speaker and Hezbollah’s representative in the ceasefire talks, Nabih Berri, informed mediators Qatar and Egypt that it is ready to negotiate independently of the Gaza War, a diplomatic source told the Lebanese LBCI channel.

Until now, Hezbollah had stated that it would only stop launching attacks on Israel when the war in Gaza was over. In addition, Berri is said to have signaled Hezbollah’s readiness to implement UN Resolution 1701, without going into further details.

It is unclear whether Hezbollah intends to agree to all of the resolution's stipulations, which call for the terror group's withdrawal from southern Lebanon and its eventual disarmament.

An envoy from Qatar will reportedly travel to Beirut to discuss the concerns and demands of Hezbollah with Berri.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah forces are being pushed back by the steady, systematic advance of Israeli troops. Last week, IDF Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin, who is in command of Israeli troops in the north, said his soldiers were defeating Hezbollah’s fighters in every encounter.

“Since we started [Operation] Northern Arrows, we have dealt a very serious blow to Hezbollah’s command and control. Most of the brigade commanders have already been [eliminated],” Gordin said.

“All the defensive areas we attacked have been defeated. We are determined to reach every [tunnel] shaft, every underground site, every stockpile of weapons,” he added.

While Elaph’s report has not been confirmed, it aligns with other recent reports, as well as interrogations of captured Hezbollah fighters, one of whom testified that all of the Radwan Force fighters who were with him, ran away.

Underlining the lagging morale among the terror group’s ranks, Muhammad Yazbak, the head of its Islamic Sharia Council, recently published a letter aiming to boost the fighters’ motivation.

“You engage in resistance against the enemy of Allah, the Zionist-American enemy of humanity, you succeed in erasing the project of their dreams and while chanting ‘at your command Nasrallah,’ you liberate the land and the holy sites in Palestine, and fulfill what Nasrallah wanted and planned,” Yazbak wrote.

“Nasrallah is present and not absent from the hearts of his lovers, may your determination and hope not fall! We pray for your health in our prayers, peace be upon you, we will continue the divine path with you until Allah dictates the victory.”

Hezbollah has reportedly been deploying small groups to reinforce its southern front amid the Israeli offensive and to fill gaps left by recent strikes that eliminated many of its lower- and mid-level commanders.

A key factor driving the defections is the difficulty in communication between units and ranks, Elaph reported, caused by a recent wave of explosions targeting Hezbollah’s pagers and communication devices.

Elaph reported that although some Radwan Force units remained to fight and managed to inflict significant losses on Israeli troops, many fighters have abandoned their positions – or even left the country – often fleeing to Syria with their families.