Will Lebanon actually dismantle Hezbollah?

With 95% of the leadership apparently gone, now is the time for real action.

Lebanon got dragged into a war that they didn't want, entirely because of Hezbollah. With 95% of their top leadership gone, and the terror group in turmoil, it would seem that if Lebanon truly wanted to end fighting with Israel that they need to remove the reason why they are fighting with Israel (Hezbollah). Anything short of the end of Hezbollah at this point appears to be a non-starter for Israel. They have little incentive not to finish the job, if these governments are not willing to disavow these terror groups and actively work to dismantle them from within.

What appears to be even more important is that public opinion has sharply moved away from supporting these groups and moved towards the idea of peace with Israel in many parts of the Middle East, Lebanon included. I believe some of this within Lebanon comes from the reality that Hezbollah cannot win a war with Israel, and their losses are also Lebanon's losses. Everyone loves a winner and a large terror group like Hezbollah are not going to get anywhere if they all die as martyrs. They are just seen as weak. Sometimes you have to represent some strength to justify your existence as a military outfit. So far, the only people representing strength is Israel and the United States.

What would the end of a state sponsored terror group in the Middle East do for the current cause? It would be huge, especially if the host country is on board with the elimination. It's one thing for Hamas to have been mostly destroyed, but as long as they enjoy some support within Palestine, then they have some incentive to rebuild. But if the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese people would rather have peace than have an active Hezbollah terror group in their country, that is a huge turn of events. Moreover, it works to further isolate whatever remains of Hamas and other groups.

At the end of the day, Iran was exposed as largely a paper tiger. They had always been the big brother to these terror groups, and I am sure these groups expected that ultimately Iran would be the calvary coming in the save the day when things started looking glum. Without their big brother being able to look out for them, they must stand on their own against the Israeli forces with the possible threat of the US forces taking action against them. Without support from their home country, well, what incentive do they have to fight the losing cause?

This could be a big deal for Trump and Netanyahu as well. Politically they have shown courage when others have tucked tail and ran away from confrontation. Whether it gets Trump a Nobel Peace Prize is one another issue but it should (in theory) shore up support for him politically home and abroad.