The spectacular cyber operation that hit many Hezbollah fighters via pagers and walkie-talkies represents the largest attack ever carried out against this Shiite militia. But it is also remarkable in the reactions it provoked among the populations of the Middle East. Outside of southern Lebanon, a territory under the influence of Iran’s armed wing, many have mocked or expressed satisfaction at seeing the Party of God so humiliated.
Since October 7, 2023 and the start of the war in Gaza, after each Israeli operation against Hamas, videos of civilians killed or injured are massively relayed, and the inhabitants of countries neighboring Israel express their anger as well as their solidarity with the Gazans. The speeches of Abu Obaida, masked spokesman of Hamas, are broadcast during demonstrations against the Hebrew state, particularly in Jordan. But if Hamas, a Sunni terrorist group, has succeeded in presenting itself as a resistance movement against the Israeli occupation, Hezbollah’s propaganda no longer seems to work in the region.
Attack on a chicken coop
On October 11, 2023, four days after the start of the war, the militia leader, Hassan Nasrallah, confirmed his military support for Hamas, emphasizing Hezbollah’s armed capacity: “For the first time in the history of the resistance in Lebanon, we are using attack drones, as well as a new type of missile.” He explained that one of these missiles, named Volcan, carries a 300 kg explosive warhead. Nearly a year later, the casualty figures on both sides prove that the real threat and deterrence capacity of Hezbollah are far from these promises.
Between October 2023 and July 2024, 60,000 Israeli civilians were forced to leave their homes in the north of the country, and 33 people, including 10 civilians, were killed in Hezbollah attacks. While in Lebanon, more than 90,000 people were forced to leave their homes, and approximately 100 civilians and 366 Hezbollah fighters were eliminated in Israeli strikes. On July 30, following the Majdal Shams massacre in which Hezbollah killed 12 children, Israel liquidated Fouad Shukri, a senior Shiite militia leader. The latter then threatened Israel with a massive attack to avenge this death. Twenty-six days later, on August 25, it targeted Intelligence Unit 8200 with 340 missiles. The majority were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome. The operation caused only minor damage to a few buildings in Israel, including a chicken coop, which sparked a wave of mockery on Arab social media. Some even portrayed Nasrallah as the owner of a KFC.
“It must be quick, before 2030”
After the pager attack, Al Arabiya, a Saudi channel opposed to Hezbollah’s policies and followed by 16 million people on YouTube, 31 million on Facebook and 10 million on TikTok, published 42 videos on the subject in 24 hours. One of them is titled: “A high-ranking source within Hezbollah claims that Hassan Nasrallah was not injured in the pager attack”. The majority of the comments deplore the fact that the leader of the militia was not hit or express the wish that he be eliminated in a future attack. On another video titled “Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib confirms that he expects major retaliation from Hezbollah against Israel”, all the comments mock this reaction. Abu Abdo Al Saddour wrote: “Patience and wisdom are a proof of strength. But it must be quick, before 2030.” Nassif Noffal commented: “As usual, Hezbollah’s reaction is to kill ten chickens and break 50 eggs.”
The same goes for Sky News Arabia, followed by 5 million on YouTube and 24 million on Facebook. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) channel published a statement from the Lebanese health minister: “Some of the wounded were transferred to Syria and others to Iran, but the majority remain in Lebanon. Most of the surgeries were on eyes, limbs and hands.” Some express solidarity with civilians, but not with Hezbollah: “They participated in the extermination of the Syrian people, they deserve worse than this,” writes Mohammad Eid.
Al Jazeera, the Qatari channel supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, followed by 18 million people on YouTube, 24 million on Facebook and 5 million on TikTok, covered the event with 16 videos in the 24 hours following the attack. One of the most viewed is titled: “Lebanese Health Minister: The number of seriously injured has reached around 300.” On Facebook, 92 people commented; 18 believed that Hezbollah had it coming, while the rest expressed solidarity with the civilian victims, with Hezbollah, or considered the attack a US plot against Lebanon. On TikTok, the channel published another video seen by a million people: “Hundreds injured in Hezbollah pager explosion.” This video received 1,939 comments. Half express admiration for the Israeli strike force, joy at the attack, or sadness at the insufficient number of terrorists hit.
The Syrian peculiarity
Many of the reactions condemning Hezbollah are published by Syrians. It is not the militia’s lack of success in its current battle against Israel that motivates their opposition to the movement, but its military intervention alongside Bashar al-Assad to carry out a massive crackdown on the Syrian revolution. Nasrallah had declared in 2012 that his militia was fulfilling its “jihadist duty” in Syria. Starting in 2013, Hezbollah, alongside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, bombed several predominantly Sunni cities, mainly in the Damascus and Aleppo regions. This carnage helped the Assad regime regain control of most Syrian cities and expel their populations. Between 2011 and 2022, according to the United Nations, the number of Syrians killed exceeds 500,000, while 6.9 million have been displaced and 5.5 million have fled to neighboring countries and Europe.
While most of these Syrians do not support Israel, they are generally opposed to Hezbollah, even when it is attacked by the IDF. Hadi al-Abdallah, a popular Syrian journalist in the Middle East, posted a video on TikTok titled, “Hezbollah members were hit in Idlib, Aleppo and Daraa. How can we not rejoice at the assassination of those who kill us and expel us from our country? We have the right to rejoice while waiting for the great joy, when Hezbollah will be completely destroyed, it and the Assad regime.” The video received 1,700 comments in support of Abdullah. In Sweida, a city in southern Syria that is opposed to the regime, a protester posted a photo of herself showing Nasrallah’s face on fire on X-rated social media, with a sentence advising Hezbollah to use carrier pigeons instead of pagers.
* A writer and poet born in Damascus, Omar Youssef Souleimane took part in the demonstrations against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, but, hunted by the secret services, had to flee Syria in 2012. A refugee in France, he published with Flammarion The Little Terrorist, The Last Syrian, A room in exile, and recently To be French.
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