Hezbollah has been accused of redirecting fuel from the Lebanese state to Shia villages in the south of the country as part of a charm offensive to shore up support, according to the Alma Research and Education Center on Thursday.
According to research by the Alma Center, nearly 484,000 liters of fuel were delivered to up to 72 communities in southern Lebanon outside the regular fuel distribution channels between April and July 2024.
The fuel was supplied by the Al Amana fuel company, which has been accused of being a civilian front for Hezbollah activities in the country.
Al Amana has been under US sanction since 2020 for its links with Hezbollah and has been accused of engaging in money laundering and establishing a cartel-like structure over the distribution of fuel in Shia areas.
The company is considered to be a key component of Hezbollah’s control and has been frequently accused of siphoning fuel from the government stockpile, often with tacit government approval.
Delivering fuel to Shia communities ahead of other communities in Lebanon is a major part of maintaining Hezbollah’s support in southern Lebanon.
A state-within-a-state
Hezbollah is accused of administering a state-within-a-state by using independent and civilian systems, which sits in strong contrast to the weak Lebanese state.
Hezbollah is estimated to have delivered around 6,500 liters of fuel to villages near the border for the four-month period.
These deliveries have been continuing even though Hezbollah evacuated the majority of the civilians in these areas.
The Alma Center concluded that this shows that the fuel intended for civilian purposes is, in fact, being used for Hezbollah’s military purposes and not exclusively for civilian purposes: “The civilian platform enables the military operations.”
Tensions in Lebanon have been extremely high since the beginning of the war but have been further exacerbated by the acute energy crisis in the country, leading to the country’s last functioning powerplant shutdown on August 17.
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