Rumors about the health of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah are again circulating on social networks and Internet news sites in the Persian Gulf.
According to the claims, Nasrallah was admitted a few days ago to a hospital in one of Beirut's southern neighborhoods after suffering medical complications in the form of a stroke or heart attack.
One questionably reliable media outlet in the Gulf quoted Lebanese sources who said that Nasrallah was undergoing treatment in hospital and that his condition was being monitored.
As is his custom every year, Nasrallah is expected to deliver an address on May 24 to mark the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. The fate of the address is likely to offer an indication of whether there is any truth to the current rumors.
A similar wave of rumors about Nasrallah's health appeared in February 2013, when it was claimed that the Hezbollah leader was suffering from cancer and had even received treatment in Iran.
Back then, Hezbollah denied the reports and Nasrallah was forced to appear on television to refute the rumors. He told Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar that the reports were psychological warfare that the group had encountered in the past.
Health issues aside, Nasrallah has a sea of problems to contend with, primarily the ongoing civil war inside Syria, Hezbollah's key ally. Nasrallah said recently that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime cannot fall, as it would also mean the fall of Hezbollah and the so-called "axis of resistance".
By Roi Kais