Hezbollah reconstructs

Conflict Blotter has been watching them do it:

The area that is widely believed to be the focal point of Hezbollah’s rebuilding project is a system of steep, wooded wadis east of the Shiite staunchly pro-Hezbollah village of Rihane … Obviously, this is not the only place Hezbollah is working, but it does appear to be one of the most ambitious and visible. One line of speculation goes that this is where Hezbollah’s heavy weapons, long range rockets, and intricate underground bunkers, etc., could be concentrated, while south of the Litani Hezbollah would focus its preparations on lighter arms in urban centers, where they can more easily escape the notice of UN peacekeepers.

The new defence line appears to face East, which ties in with rumours earlier this summer that round two of the conflict would see Israel hooking through Syria and round UNIFIL forces south of the Litani. Hezbollah-connected businesses have also been buying land in local villages, building housing and populating the area with Shi’a families. In comments to his own post, Charles Levinson writes:

These new residents are going to have a strong attachment to their new homes as literally they’ve helped build them from the ground up. They will know the lay of the land because they will have been living there, and working there, presumably constructing bunkers and who knows what else. They will have all the traits that make a guerrilla fighter defending his home turf such a potent foe.

This is exactly what Hezbollah’s driving strength is. Hezbollah’s fighting style, as observed during last summer’s war, depends to a large degree on militants fighting in and defending the terrain and villages in which they live.

And the IDF used to beat field armies when it was officered from the Kibbutzes…