General mobilization in Hezbollah. To cope with the epidemic due to the coronavirus, which has killed 19 people in Lebanon and put the country completely stopped, exacerbating a little more the economic crisis in which it is plunged, the Shiite pro-Iranian movement has left the big ways. One thousand five hundred doctors and three thousand nurses and rescuers, usually mobilized to take part in the fight against Israel, the historic enemy of this militia party, were called to fight the Covid-19, a new invisible adversary. An entire hospital, two screening centers, three quarantine facilities and a fleet of twenty-five ambulances have been made available to the sick.
"Our goal is to relieve public hospitals and the government, said Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah manager for the Beirut region. The level of preparation is the same as for a war ”, added the framework of the movement, whose military branch takes part in the fighting in Syria, alongside the government forces.
In the southern suburbs of the capital and in the southern part of the country, the two main electoral fiefdoms of this group, often presented as a state within a state, street disinfection campaigns have been organized. According to the Lebanese daily East-Day, Hezbollah, anxious not to be accused of favoritism, has carried out similar operations in Christian villages and in districts of Saïda, a predominantly Sunni city.
A chance for traditional parties
The deployment, exposed at a press conference held last week, responds to a speech made in mid-March by the movement’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah. Comparing the battle with the coronavirus to "A world war", the Shiite leader, who has lived in hiding since the 2006 war against Israel, held that " (their) first religious duty (…) is to preserve (their) life, that of (their), that of (their) entourage and that of (their) people ".
"With these declarations, which sounded the state of emergency in the Shiite regions, Nasrallah has undoubtedly saved lives ”, recognizes an actor in civil society, who is not a regular follower of Hezbollah. "The military structure of the movement, very hierarchical, helps it to manage the crisis", add this source who prefers to remain anonymous.
Even if its strike force is unequaled, the Party of God is not the only Lebanese political group to fight against the virus and to want to make it known. The Free Patriotic Current (CPL), a Christian right-wing party from which President Michel Aoun, but also its main rival, the Lebanese Forces, and the Shiite movement Amal, of the President of the Parliament Nabih Berri, posted on social networks. images praising their contribution: protective masks produced by the party, cans of disinfectants stamped with its logo, street sterilization patrols, donation collections and food distribution, etc.
