Hezbollah Regains Strength in Lebanon

Hezbollah supporters fix the party's flag on top of their rocket models in Bourj Qalawi near the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon in this July 10, 2007, file photo. When 30,000 U.N. troops and Lebanese army soldiers were deployed across southern Lebanon at the end of last year's Israel-Hezbollah war, Hezbollah's presence shrank in the villages and hills facing the Israeli border and its influence seemed likely to diminish as well. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File) (Mohammed Zaatari - AP)

-- BAFLAY, Lebanon _ When 30,000 U.N. and Lebanese troops deployed across southern Lebanon at the end of last year's Israel-Hezbollah war, the Islamic militant group's presence shrank in the zone bordering Israeli and its influence seemed likely to diminish as well.

But more than a year later, Hezbollah appears to again be solidly entrenched across Lebanon's south _ looking, in fact, as if its fighters never really left but merely went underground.

The Shiite militia's banners hang everywhere, boasting of the "divine victory" over Israel and thanking its chief sponsor, Shiite-majority Iran, for helping with post-war reconstruction. Villagers report the militia's recruitment of young men is booming and its popularity is firm.

A few things are different. Hilltop posts near Israel once held by Hezbollah are now controlled by the Lebanese army. And U.N. peacekeepers are helping the army establish its authority and maintain a buffer zone between the Litani River and the border _ from three to 18 miles deep at various points _ that is supposedly free of Hezbollah fighters.

But Hezbollah appears to be in a strong position north and south of the Litani, both politically and militarily. And the group _ whose name means Party of God _ says it would be ready to fight again should Israel attack.

It is unclear how much Hezbollah, which is labeled a terrorist group by the United States but not by the European Union, has been able to beef up its missiles pointed toward Israel and other weaponry. The Israeli government has complained arms have been smuggled from Syria, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Syria and Iran to cooperate with Lebanese authorities to prevent weapons shipments into the country.

Villagers across the south point to various places they say are arms depots for Hezbollah, but it was not possible to verify their statements.

In the village of Barflay, about 10 miles north of the border, a middle-aged woman pointed to a low building nestled in trees and brush.

"That one there is the party's warehouse for weapons," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used for her safety.

Hezbollah boasts that it is both everywhere and nowhere, meaning it is hard to tell who is a civilian and who is a fighter.

"Hezbollah is not from Mars. They are the people of this land," said Hussein Ayoub, a 40-year-old Shiite in the nearby village of Selaa. Ayoub said he lost six cousins last year when Israeli planes bombed two houses in Selaa.

"They are among us, even if we don't see them," interjected his uncle, Ahmed Ayoub.