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Have bombings united the Lebanese Shiites behind Hezbollah?

Although many suspect the recent bombings in Lebanon are aimed at breaking Shiite support for Hezbollah, they may be having the opposite effect.
Friends and family members of victims killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday, hold a wreath along with their pictures during a funeral in the Shi'ite town of Hermel February 3, 2014. A suicide car bomber killed three people at a petrol station in a stronghold of the Shi'ite militant Hezbollah movement on Lebanon's northern border on Saturday, the latest sign that Syria's civil war is spilling over into its small neighbour. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is pictured on the left in the banner in fr

Recent suicide bombings in Beirut's southern suburbs and the town of Hermel, especially the Feb. 1 al-Aytam gas station attack, indicate that the perpetrators' targets are not simply Hezbollah strongholds, or even military targets, but civilians in general. The attacks — retaliation for Hezbollah's participation in the Syrian war alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime — were planned to result in the largest number of victims possible in an attempt to alter an environment currently supportive of Hezbollah. Moreover, the attacks are aimed at creating a rift between the party and its base.

The questions these days include: Will these attacks lead to restlessness among the Shiites in targeted areas that support Hezbollah, causing a rift within the party's current supporters? Alternatively, contrary to what those planning the attacks are seeking, will the bombings further unite Shiites despite the political and religious differences among them?

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