Hezbollah Rearms as Israeli Occupation and Strikes Continue

Hezbollah has spent three months preparing for a possible resumption of hostilities with Israel, backed by tens of millions of dollars from Iran, according to Lebanese security personnel briefed on the group’s activities. The preparations come as Israeli forces occupy villages in southern Lebanon and political pressure in Beirut grows for Hezbollah to disarm. Civilians remain caught between armed powers preparing for another round.

During a lull in hostilities since June, Hezbollah has acquired explosives and produced drones intended to fly into Israeli positions, two Lebanese security sources said. One of those sources and a person close to Hezbollah said Iran provided tens of millions of dollars for the group’s military capabilities. Tehran also provided about $200 million to aid displaced families in Hezbollah’s Shi’ite heartlands, as reported earlier in October.

Rearmament under occupation

Hezbollah’s media office said Israel’s occupation of Lebanese land made resistance a legitimate right. It rejected suggestions that the group’s command-and-control systems had broken down. Israel’s military declined to comment, and Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva didn’t immediately respond to questions.

A U.S. State Department spokesman said Washington would continue strangling Hezbollah’s finances through sanctions and other measures. A U.S. Treasury spokesperson said Iran was running out of money and ways to move it. The statements plainly set out the competing machinery: Iranian funding supports Hezbollah’s military capacity, while U.S. sanctions aim to cut it off. Neither statement addressed people displaced or killed as the armed sides prepare and retaliate.

The wider conflict began with the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in February. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Iran on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive that killed more than 4,000 people and uprooted a quarter of Lebanon’s population, mostly members of Hezbollah’s Shi’ite Muslim constituency. Hostilities largely eased over the summer after an interim Iran-U.S. deal included a Lebanon ceasefire and Washington-mediated talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Full-scale fighting hasn’t resumed in Lebanon despite the deal’s collapse. Israel continued deadly strikes in the south, while Hezbollah remained alert to a possible U.S.-Iran escalation that could reignite the Lebanon front. Sources said Hezbollah hadn’t fully prepared its stockpiles or fighting force. The pause hasn’t ended the threat hanging over civilians.

The apparatus struggles to recover

Hezbollah has been restoring command-and-control structures that broke down in key battles, according to one source and three other security officials familiar with its operations. The group also needs to repair capabilities after losses in Bint Jbeil and at the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, a Lebanese source and three security officials said.

Those officials said Hezbollah’s use of small units and rationing of anti-tank rockets left some units isolated and struggling against Israeli remotely operated systems, including weaponized drones and armed remote-controlled vehicles. The Israeli military said it uses remotely operated systems to monitor southern Lebanon and reduce the threat to its troops. Each side describes its machinery in the language of security; people living beneath it face the consequences.

This month, Hezbollah acknowledged that explosives seized by Lebanese authorities belonged to the group and were intended for use against Israel. A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source said the explosives were for its explosive drones.

Hezbollah hasn’t said explicitly whether it would join any renewed fighting. Its media office said the group was wary of giving Israeli leaders a justification to escalate in Lebanon and concerned its constituents could be displaced again. Founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, the armed group has suffered severe losses in two wars with Israel since 2024: thousands of fighters and many leaders were killed, and much of its arsenal was destroyed. The next confrontation remains possible, with civilians already uprooted left to wait between the armed sides.