Hezbollah and its political allies made significant gains in Lebanon's parliamentary election, official results show, boosting the Iran-backed terrorist group and underscoring Iran's growing regional clout.
Hezbollah and its political allies have apparently won at least 65 out of 128 seats in the Lebanese parliament, according to results from all but one of Lebanon's 15 electoral districts.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the result "a very big political, parliamentary and moral victory for the choice of resistance."
In a televised victory speech, Nasrallah touched on mounting tensions along Lebanon and Syria's borders with Israel.
"I follow the statements made by the Israeli leadership. I hear their threats and I see what is happening in Iran and in Gaza. We don't know where things are going and we are not wasting time," he said.
Hezbollah has been fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in the civil war in Syria and the effort has depleted the group's resources, as more than 1,800 of its operatives have been killed – a third of its fighting force – and thousands have been wounded.
With the Syrian civil war waning, Hezbollah's sponsor, Iran, is likely to accelerate the assistance it lends the Shiite terrorist group's armament efforts.
An Israeli minister said the outcome of the elections showed that the Lebanese state was indistinguishable from Hezbollah, signaling the risk of Israel hitting Lebanon's government in a future war.
Hezbollah's deputy chief Naim Qassem vowed that the group would "protect Lebanon from any attempts by Israel to seize the country's territory."
Western and Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri appears to have lost about a third of his seats, the results showed. He blamed a complex new voting law and gaps in his party's performance.
But with 21 MPs, down from 33 in the last parliament, he still emerged as the Sunni Muslim leader with the biggest bloc in the 128-seat house, making him the frontrunner to establish the next government.
Ali Da'amoush, a member of Hezbollah's Executive Council claimed that the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel had interfered in the May 6 elections.
"The parliamentary elections are really sensitive because of some foreign meddling. The Americans and Saudis, along with the Israelis, are interfering in the elections by supporting certain parties in a bid to weaken the resistance and prevent it from forming a strong faction in Lebanon's future parliament," he told Iran's Fars news agency.
Iranian and Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets celebrated the results.
The pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper declared the election a "slap in the face" for Hariri, and Iran's Tasnim news agency's report was titled, "Lebanese election result puts an end to Hariri's monopoly among Sunnis."
Mainstream Lebanese media described the results as a "critical blow" to the Sunni camp, saying the Hariri and his allies would have no choice but to "draw the necessary personal conclusions."
Sunni-affiliated media outlets in the Arab world decried the low voter turnout, which stood at 49%.
One Saudi channel said, "The Lebanese people have willingly ceded their independence to Iran. From now on, Tehran will dictate Beirut's policies."
The strong showing by parties and politicians who support Hezbollah's aggressive policies and armament efforts risk complicating Western policy in Lebanon, which is banking on foreign aid and loans to revive its stagnant economy and receives U.S. military support.
The staunchly anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, was able to double its power, security around 15 seats, according to initial indications.
Lebanon's prime minister must be a Sunni under its sectarian power-sharing system. The new government, like the outgoing one, is expected to include all the main parties, but Lebanese political experts hedged that Hariri would be unable to form a steady coalition, which in turn would cripple the government.
"Hariri is going to be further weakened in any kind of government going forward," said Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute. "His ability to substantially tame or restrain Hezbollah in Lebanon is going to be very limited."
