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)

Last year's 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah ended on Aug. 14 with a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing up to 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority throughout south Lebanon.

Despite the resolution, Hezbollah remains the only force trusted by most of the majority Shiite population of the South, and respected _ or feared _ by most of the minority Christians and Sunni Muslims.

When six Spanish U.N. peacekeepers were killed in a June attack, the U.N. and Lebanese army had to rely on Hezbollah's cooperation to investigate. Their findings have not been released, but Lebanese intelligence officials believe the attackers were al-Qaida-inspired militants from a Palestinian refugee camp _ and not Hezbollah fighters, as the U.N. first suspected.

Villagers say Hezbollah is still recruiting men aged between 16 and 19. Those who agree to join receive basic training for about a month. Those who show resilience and have skills get more training and remain with the guerrilla group at an attractive salary _ a big inducement in a place where many youths are unemployed.

Residents in southern Lebanon have been saying for years that rich Shiite supporters of Hezbollah _ many who made money as traders in Africa _ have been buying land from Christians and Sunnis near the Israeli border, boosting the guerrilla group's control. They say the purchases have accelerated recently.

The chance of another war haunts the south.

On the anniversary of the end of last year's war, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned of a "big surprise" should Israel attack again. Many took that to mean the militia had gotten a new delivery of anti-aircraft missiles.

The talk of Hezbollah recruitment and training also indicates the militia is preparing for another conflict, with both ordinary people and Hezbollah supporters saying the fighting will be initiated by Israel, not the Lebanese militiamen.

The last war began on July 12, 2006, after Hezbollah fighters crossed into Israel, killing three soldiers and seizing two others. Israel then invaded southern Lebanon and bombarded the country. More than 1,000 Lebanese _ mostly civilians_ were killed; 158 Israelis, 119 of them soldiers, also died.

Hezbollah's yellow flags dominate southern Lebanon, as they did before the war. Posters and murals of its fallen fighters _ set against a background of red tulips, a symbol of martyrdom _ adorn walls and utility poles along the mountain roads.

A poster of Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei greets visitors to the main village square in Srifa, about six miles from Israel's border. Twelve Hezbollah fighters and 17 from allied groups were killed in Israeli airstrikes, along with seven civilians.

One of the Hezbollah dead was Abbas Amin Dakroub who was hiding with about 70 relatives and neighbors in a bomb shelter near his home when Srifa was struck in the early days of the war.