Ali, the commander of Hezbollah in his village, and his men are part of the active force, and their orders are to wait for further orders.
"Hezbollah hasn't even mobilized all its active fighters, and the Israelis are calling their reserve units," he says.
Hezbollah prides itself on its secretiveness and discipline.
"We don't take anyone who knocks at our door and says `I want to join.'" he says. "We raise our fighters. We take them when they are young kids and raise them to become Hezbollah fighters. Every fighter we have believes that the ultimate form of being is martyrdom." The three men nod their assent.
Shia symbols and mythology play a big role in the ideology of Hezbollah, especially the tragedy of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the prophet who in the 7th century led a few hundred men against the well-organized army of the caliph in Damascus. He was slain in Karbala, and Shia around the world commemorate these events in Ashura.
Ali and his fellow fighters have been preparing for the latest conflict with the Israelis for years and he acknowledges the support received from Iran as the TV blares patriotic songs and pictures of destroyed bridges, houses and buildings. The men are feeling confident -- only a day earlier the Israelis suffered heavy casualties in the village of Bint Jbeil.
"Our strategy is to hit the commandos and the Golani units like we did in Bint Jbeil," Ali says. "Those are their best units. If they can't do anything, the morale of the reserve units will sink."
battle for survival
For Ali and his comrades, the latest conflict is a war of survival not only for Hezbollah but for the whole Shia community. It is not only a war with Israel, their enemy for decades, but also with the Sunni community. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have all expressed fears of Iranian domination over the Middle East.
"If Israel comes out victorious from this conflict, this will be a victory for the Sunnis and they will take the Shia community back in history dozens of years to the time when we were only allowed to work as garbage collectors in this country. The Shia will all die before letting this happen again," he says.
And even when the battle with the Israelis is over, he adds menacingly, Hezbollah will have other battles to fight.
"The real battle is after the end of this war," he says.
"We will have to settle scores with the Lebanese politicians. We also have the best security and intelligence apparatus in this country, and we can reach any of those people who are speaking against us now. Let's finish with the Israelis and then we will settle scores later," he says.
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