Lebanon Braces for Escalation as Israel Intensifies Attacks Following Hezbollah Retaliation
Beirut, Lebanon – A fragile ceasefire in Lebanon shattered Monday as Israel launched intensified attacks on Hezbollah targets, triggering widespread displacement and raising fears of a wider conflict. The escalation follows a barrage of missiles and drones fired by Hezbollah towards an Israeli military site in Haifa, a response to the recent killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Israeli strike in Tehran.
The overnight attacks jolted residents of Beirut, with loud booms echoing across the capital. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported 31 people killed and 149 wounded as of Monday. Israel has issued evacuation warnings for more than 50 towns and villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, evoking scenes reminiscent of September 23, 2024, when Israeli attacks killed approximately 500 people and displaced over a million.
“I was sleeping when the bombing and rocket attacks started,” Nader Hani Akil, a resident of Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, told Al Jazeera while preparing to evacuate with his family. Traffic leaving the southern suburbs was described as chaotic, with residents fleeing on foot and children crying.
The current situation recalls the intensity of the 2023-2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, during which Israel killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including senior Hezbollah leaders. Despite agreeing to a ceasefire on November 27, 2024, Israel has maintained a presence at five points within Lebanon and continued attacks in the south and Bekaa Valley.
The Lebanese government responded to Hezbollah’s actions on Monday by outlawing the group’s security and military activities and ordering the arrest of those responsible for the rocket strikes. Justice Minister Adel Nassar stated that security forces have been instructed to make arrests.
However, the response has drawn criticism from Hezbollah supporters, who accuse the government of failing to protect civilians. Akil, who sought refuge with his family at the Jaber Ahmad al-Sabah school in Beirut, expressed a fatalistic acceptance of the violence. “One way or another, death will come. We either die with honour and dignity, or let us not die at all,” he said.
The United States has signaled it will not intervene to halt Israel’s attacks, according to reports from MTV Lebanon. U.S. officials reportedly demanded that Lebanon designate Hezbollah as a “terrorist organisation,” warning that without such a designation, there would be no distinction made between the Lebanese state and the group.
Analysts suggest Hezbollah’s attack, while limited in scope, was intended to demonstrate solidarity with Iran and fulfill obligations within the “axis of resistance” – a coalition of Iran-backed groups including Hamas and Yemen’s Houthis.
“It was a handful of rockets, and it looks like they aimed at open areas rather than proper targets to inflict damage or cause casualties,” said Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council. “But it has given the Israelis an excuse… to really start battering Hezbollah.”
Imad Salamey, a political scientist at the Lebanese American University, described Hezbollah’s move as “an act of strategic desperation,” prioritizing the survival of the resistance axis over domestic concerns.
Prior to the recent escalation, approximately 64,000 people were already internally displaced in Lebanon due to previous Israeli attacks. The renewed violence threatens to exacerbate the humanitarian situation and further destabilize the region.
Flights in and out of Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport have been largely cancelled, though no attacks have been reported on the airport itself. The Lebanese government has opened schools around Beirut to accommodate displaced families.
