Last Friday, at around 19:00, an Israeli air strike hit a car in a village in southern Lebanon called Froun. This part of the country is the heartland of the Shia Muslim community and has long been under the sway of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia and political party. Streets are adorned with banners celebrating fighters killed in battles as 'martyrs of the resistance'.
Upon my arrival in Froun an hour after the strike, rescue workers had already removed the remains of the single casualty, a man labeled a 'Hezbollah terrorist' by the Israeli military. Despite a ceasefire deal instated last November, Israel has been conducting near-daily bombings ever since.
Who is going to help us? Mohamad Mokdad, a local resident, lamented. The car was struck directly in front of his house, and he was still in the process of clearing body parts from his veranda. We just want to live in peace. I don’t want parties, he continued, hinting at Hezbollah without naming the group directly.
Israel claims its military actions are aimed at crippling Hezbollah, which remains poised for recovery after suffering significant losses during the conflict. I visited southern Lebanon to assess the effects of the Israeli assaults, discovering that the relentless violence has not only shaken people's sense of security but shifted their previously unwavering support for Hezbollah.
The more than year-long ceasefire had come after 13 months of brutal warfare that left 4,000 Lebanese and 120 Israelis dead. The truce was brokered by the US and France and was supposed to see Hezbollah withdraw its fighters and weapons from areas south of the Litani River, while Israeli troops pulled back from parts of southern Lebanon they occupied during the war. However, a year on, Israeli forces still hold several hilltops, launching drone and air strikes across the nation on sites they allege are connected to Hezbollah.
Last Sunday, for instance, Israeli forces killed a senior Hezbollah official in an air strike outside Beirut. Unifil, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, has reported over 10,000 violations of the ceasefire by Israel, resulting in the deaths of more than 330 individuals, including civilians, as per the Lebanese health ministry.
While Israeli officials allege Hezbollah has been attempting to restore its military capabilities and smuggling weaponry, they have yet to substantiate these claims publicly. A shift in public sentiment is noticeable as some Lebanese residents express strain and skepticism regarding ongoing hostilities, with critical voices towards Hezbollah appearing albeit cautiously.
Emergency deployments of Lebanese soldiers along with Unifil have occurred in response to Israeli threats of imminent attacks on villages such as Beit Lif, demonstrating a precarious balance between cooperation with international forces and local sovereignty concerns.
In a recent statement, Hezbollah's secretary general Naim Qassem dismissed the possibility of disarmament, reassuring that the group's weapons signify their strength and existence against perceived threats from Israel and the USA. With tens of thousands of Lebanese still displaced, uncertainty looms large over the region with a visible longing for stability amid ongoing conflict.
As the nation braces itself for potential escalation, local residents like Nayef al-Rida, who remain in war-ravaged villages, continue to grapple with an uncertain future overshadowed by fear and the echoes of warfare.
