SINCE the April 27th ceasefire ended the war of attrition between its fighters and Israel, the Lebanese "Party of God", Hizbullah, has been waging a war to win the hearts and minds of the population of southern Lebanon by rebuilding the towns and villages bombarded by Israel during its 16 day Grapes of Wrath operation.
Hizbullah fully mobilised its financial and technical resources under its Jihad al Bina (War for Reconstruction) organisation and, in 50 days, repaired 2,800 buildings damaged in the offensive.
To achieve this considerable feat Hizbullah dispatched some 3,200 engineers, technicians, administrators and labourers, most of them volunteers, to 1,100 construction sites in 106 localities in the south, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Hizbullah's surveyors estimated that the Israeli bombardments had destroyed 330 habitations (houses and apartment blocks) and 54 commercial premises and damaged another 5,000, among which were 50 schools and houses of worship.
The director of Jihad al Bina, Mr Qassem Allam, speaking recently at the heavily shelled village of Shaqra at the edge of the Irish operational area of the UN zone, said that the "reconstruction war would continue until the job was finished.
Hizbullah routinely undertakes the repair or reconstruction of homes and shops damaged or destroyed in Israeli strikes launched in retaliation for the movement's military activities against Israeli troops in the occupied border zone.
Following Israel's July 1993 week long bombardment code named Operation Accountability Hizbullah invested $16 million in the reconstruction of buildings destroyed in that assault. Funding comes from wealthy overseas Shia donors as well as from Lebanese and Iranian charitable foundations.
Without the activities of Jihad al Bina and the movement's social welfare agencies in the neglected and underdeveloped south, it is unlikely that the highly vulnerable villagers would permit Hizbullah fighters to continue operating from their neighbourhood.
The Lebanese government, unable to match the efficient and high profile Hizbullah campaign, lost the reconstruction battle almost as soon as it began.
Although it has indemnified Grapes of Wrath victims, the government has not even released the global figure in order to reap the reward for extending its helping hand to the afflicted populace.
Winning over the victims of Israel's latest assault on Lebanon can only improve the chances of Hizbullah candidates in Lebanon's August parliamentary poll.
Since its guerrillas attained the status of a national resistance movement during the April fighting and its builders have given an impressive performance since then, Hizbullah can expect to improve on the eight seats its supporters now hold in the 128 member chamber.
This could be expected to strengthen the demand of the Shias, Lebanon's largest and most disadvantaged sectarian community, for a fair share of the political cake.
