Episode description

Note: This report is a collaboration with our colleagues at Democracy Now!, an independent, daily radio and TV show. Sharif produced this report with journalist Lama Al-Arian.

Lebanon’s political landscape is at a turning point in the wake of the war with Israel. Hezbollah, the most powerful force in the county, suffered heavy losses in the conflict, including the killing its leader of more than 30 years, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as many of the group’s top commanders and much of its rank and file.

Israel’s aerial assault and ground invasion in Lebanon destroyed large swathes of the country—mostly in the south—and killed over 4,000 people and forced 1.2 million to flee their homes.

Hezbollah has long been one of the key groups in the Axis of Resistance—the loose coalition of both nation-states and non-state actors in the Middle East who pledged to jointly oppose Israel. In the wake of the war, Hezbollah’s opponents inside Lebanon and internationally are now seeking to further weaken and marginalize the group.

Drop Site’s Sharif Abdel Kouddous traveled to Lebanon last week to report from the ground in southern Lebanon and to cover Nasrallah’s funeral, one of the biggest in the region in decades. We are honored to team up with our colleagues at Democracy Now! to bring you this comprehensive video report. Sharif reported this story with independent journalist Lama al-Arian. Special thanks to Malek Hosny, Tariq Qiblawi, and Ibrahim Ali for their work on this story.

The video report includes excerpts of an interview with senior Hezbollah politician and member of parliament, Dr. Ibrahim al-Moussawi. On Friday, Drop Site will publish the full interview with Moussawi discussing the future role of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Trump administration’s demand that Hezbollah be barred from the newly formed government, the state of the Axis of Resistance, and more. Make sure to subscribe to Drop Site News’s podcast feed on your favorite platforms to hear the interview and all of our audio programming.

If you want to see more on-the-ground reporting from Drop Site News, please consider making a 501(c)(3) tax deductible donation to support our work. This report, and all of our journalism, is only possible because of the generous support of our readers. We do not put any of our content behind a paywall and your voluntary paid subscription will help ensure we never do.

NEW PAID SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Drop Site News has partnered with Jolt Films to offer our paid subscribers free access to The Bibi Files, a 2024 documentary from filmmaker, Alexis Bloom and producer, Alex Gibney.

Using never-seen-before interrogation footage, this investigation of Benjamin Netanyahu and his inner circle provides an unflinching gaze into the private world behind the headlines. Petty vanity and a sense of entitlement leads to corruption, and the unwillingness of the Netanyahus to give up power. The extreme right senses opportunity in Bibi’s weakness, and the dominos fall.

Access to this film is a benefit offered to our paid subscribers. If you are not yet a paid subscriber, click the link below to become one today and we’ll send you a link to the film.