Lebanon's powerhouse Hezbollah hit by backlash after warehouse explosion

BEIRUT — Sara Jaafar joined a group of political activists gathered on Aug. 4 to discuss strategies to challenge Lebanon' s entrenched rulers when their building was shaken and the windows blasted out by the giant explosion that rocked Beirut.

She took cover from the flying debris, thoughts rushing through her head of past political assassinations in Lebanon. Her immediate reaction was that Hezbollah, the militant group that dominates power here, was targeting the dissidents' meeting.

The blast was in fact at the port of Beirut, caused by a stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored there for years. So far, it appears to be a result of long time government mismanagement. No direct connection to Hezbollah has emerged in the explosion that wreaked destruction across the city and killed at least 190 people. Theories abound about what triggered the explosion, including even a possible Israeli strike against Hezbollah.

Jaafar' s initial re acti on reflected the fear Hezbollah has instilled among many Lebanese and the power it has succeeded in projecting over the past decade.

For many, the Iranbacked Hezbollah now stand sat the top of Lebanon's sectarian-based system of power — and so is complicit in the corruption many blame for the port disaster and for driving the country into near bankruptcy.

“Who controls most of everything?” asked Jaafar, a secular Shiite. Hezbollah and it sally, President Michel Aoun ,“are the people in charge. ... They bear the responsibility.”

In the wake of the blast, Hezbollah has come under unprecedented public criticism and its role in Lebanese politics under intense scrutiny.

Cardboard effigies of Hezbol la h' s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other politicians were hanged on nooses at a rally after the blast. Some accused Hez bo ll ah of storing weapons at t he port, a claim it denies. Hezbollah's political rivals seized the opportunity to fan hostilities against it and its allies.

Social media posts mocked Na sr allah' s speeches. One noted how the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Q as sim Soleimani in Iraq in January prompted Na sr allah to weep and threaten revenge — while in his first speech following the blast, he was smiling and calm.

“There is a paradox there with Hezbollah. They have never been more powerful politically and militarily. But they have never faced such an array of challenges as well,” said Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based Hezbollah expert.

The season of disc ontent against Hezbollah comes as Lebanese suffer under an economic crash that has driven nearly half of the population into poverty. Rather than push f or reform, critics say, Hezbollah has stood by its political allies who resist change. It also denied support to nationwide protests that erupted in October demanding the end of the dysfunctional political structure. U.S. sanctions against Iran and Hezbollah made things harder.