TEHRAN – When Hamlet, the Danish prince, discovers by chance that his father has been killed by his uncle, he is confused and perplexed. Hamlet is the main character in one of Shakespeare’s plays, which bears his name. At that moment, the moment of truth, Hamlet changed and became a man with responsibilities. However, he was completely exhausted that his mother was involved in the plot and that she was married to her uncle, the killer.

The same perplexity gripped the population after the great crime committed in Tayouneh in Beirut on the 14th two days ago. It was not Hamlet alone in great confusion; it was the whole country. This is of course an incident that will take the country to its next stage, once and for all. This is the moment of truth. This is what Hamlet expressed in his historic words: to be or not to be, that is the question!

More precisely, it is the hour of truth for the two Shiite parties in Lebanon, Amal and Hezbollah and their allies. However, Hezbollah is more besieged in this matter. It has been a growing and continuing war against him to disarm him since 2006.

Now Hezbollah is in a really difficult situation. It is no longer the uncle who bothers Hamlet so that he can easily kill him and avenge his father. It’s the mother. Hamlet couldn’t believe his mother was involved in the murder. As a result, it is not “Israel” or the Americans or any other terrorist group who are the perpetrators of the Tayounah massacre. It was executed by a Lebanese author, and Lebanon’s existence and security are now threatened. And the big question is how to respond to such a crime.

Can you kill everyone involved and lead the country into a civil war between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon, which is the goal set by the Americans, when they knew they had lost their war in Syria in 2018. The question is: who will deter Geagea and his bodies? And who can punish them?

The two Shiite parties can neither forgive nor forget, as happened in Khaldeh about two months ago. In Arabic, we say: two hammers on the head are quite harmful! And this is the second blow to the head. For the first time, I have witnessed for years the anger expressed not only by Shia intellectuals but also by their friends from all sects. What happened in Khaldeh and what has happened now in Tayouneh is a premeditated crime. Peaceful funerals in the first and peaceful protesters in the second were crossing the street. As the demonstrators prepared to reach the House of Justice to express a political opinion, snipers fired in cold blood in the upper part of the body, as in Khaldeh. They were ambushed.

Let’s be real; everyone is waiting in particular for Hezbollah’s response. Hezbollah’s dilemma resembles Hamlet’s tragedy:

the mother is a killer! It is one of the main parties in the country that committed the crime of Tayouneh. It was the Lebanese Forces who did it. Hezbollah must stop targeting its supporters in the open.

Sameer Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces Party [LFP], and his party is known to be responsible for war crimes and mass murders during Lebanon’s civil war. He was incarcerated for many years because he was convicted of two mass murders in churches, murdering Tony Franjieh and his family in their bed at night and killing the elder Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami. Yet Geagea was pardoned by the Lebanese Parliament in 2005. She was a fraction of the chain of reactions after the assassination of ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

There is a war waged by Israel, which Hezbollah must dissuade. Until yesterday, there were seven dead and more than 30 injured. And the number of victims killed could increase as many of them are in critical conditions. This time the crime cannot be ended by simply saying: let’s kiss and realize. In addition, nine people have so far been arrested. They were involved in the shooting, three of them are LFPs, and one of them works as a security guard at the US Embassy. These men were shooting at unarmed demonstrators. It is clear that Hezbollah has evidence of LFP involvement; otherwise, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, Mr. Hashem Safi al-Din, would not have openly accused the LFP and Geagea in particular.

One of the prominent Lebanese journalists, Ebrahim Bayram, said that Geagea was like a strengthened lamp and it was time to eat it. He continues to say that now is the time for him to act and deliver for his creators. It is a common fact that Geagea is the largest contractor for the US Embassy in Lebanon, and the rest of his choir are small contractors.

Going back to the moment of truth, this is not a random act. This is a deliberate act and a message to Hezbollah, you and your allies have nothing to say in the investigation of the booming port crime in August 2020. As we have written before, the crime of targets of the port was comparable to the objectives of the al-Hariri assassination in February 2005. And what happened in Tayouneh is in fact a chain of reaction linked to the crime in Harbor, just like the successive assassinations that most followed. great al-Hariri. The only difference here, the political leaders were targeted then, and now it’s the people who are targeted.

The second truth is that if Hezbollah did not make the killers pay for their actions, such incidents would be repeated and killing more of its supporters would be an easier task. Their movements within the country will be limited to full Lebanese citizens. This will ultimately lead to restricting their participation in political protests and marches outside al-Dahia, and sowing fear and concern among them. These people are courageous, but they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and spouses. They need to feel safe in their own country and not be treated like second-degree citizens by a group of racists.

The third and most important truth that can reinforce the above two facts or cripple them forever is totally up to Hezbollah. Hezbollah took the first step in the right direction by declaring everyone’s high responsibility in Lebanon and that they should act, by Mr. Safi al-Din yesterday at the funeral. However, unfortunately, this is not enough. Hezbollah must now bring the killers under control and not contain itself. This is an eternal war waged by Israel, and Hezbollah must deter.