Hezbollah Attacks on Israel Bring Lebanon Closer to a New Civil War

Will Lebanon’s anger at Hezbollah for attacking Israel on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran launch a new civil war in the Land of Cedars?The Israel Defense Force intensified air strikes and land incursions in Lebanon on Wednesday. For the first time, it hit a target in central Beirut, outside of Hezbollah’s stronghold in the city, the Daheyh. If in the past most Lebanese would condemn Israel, now the government and the public almost uniformly is placing the blame on Hezbollah. The targeted hit at the center of Beirut lightly injured one woman living nearby. Her daughter, a Middle East analyst at the Washington-based New Line Institute, Dania Arayssi, tells the Sun that although the strike was conducted by the IDF, “my mother hates Hezbollah even more than I do.” As anger at Hezbollah grows in Lebanon, she adds, “there is a serious risk of a civil war.”Like many Lebanese, Ms. Arayssi is also increasingly angry at the inability of Lebanon’s government to rein in the terror group. The Lebanese Armed Forces is unserious about disarming Hezbollah, fearing that a direct confrontation would lead to a civil war. That is not an excuse, she says. “They are not doing their job even as they keep asking the Americans for money. It doesn’t make sense.” The Lebanese government is signaling that it is ready for diplomatic talks with Israel, but Jerusalem demands Beirut first disarm Hezbollah in accordance with United Nations Security Council demands.“We are willing to have a dialogue but not just for the sake of a dialogue,” the Israeli ambassador at the UN, Danny Danon, told reporters Wednesday, as the council gathered to discuss the situation in Lebanon. “They have to choose — either they confront Hezbollah, or they let us do it. There is no other option.”Even though Hezbollah suffered major losses in late 2024, it remains the most powerful military force in Lebanon, receiving up to $1 billion a year from the Islamic Republic before the latest hostilities began. “In the last two days we had 30 rocket attacks each day, but before that we would get 50 a day, and drone lances are also down,” the founder of the northern Israel-based Alma Research, Sarit Zehavi, tells the Sun.Northern Israelis, including young tots, are once again forced to run to shelter on a few moments notice. Yet many of them are cheering on the IDF to widen the operation to remove the threat once and for all. Hezbollah is targeting Israeli sites as far away from the border as Tel Aviv. Its operatives reportedly downloaded the phone app that alerts Israelis of incoming salvos from Iran. As the app buzzes, urging Israelis to get near shelter, Hezbollah terrorists launch rockets or drones, making it look like it was synchronized with Tehran. On March 2, two days after the launch of Epic Fury, Hezbollah fired a few rockets at northern Israel. In the past, the organization described such attacks as a defense of Lebanon from its southern neighbor. Now the organization’s chief, Naim Qassem, said the attacks are designed to avenge the killing of the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a strong condemnation of Hezbollah and banned all of its military activities in the country. It later also expelled Iranian members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, who were in the country to guide Hezbollah. The American ambassador at the UN, Mike Waltz, applauded the Beirut government’s statements. “We urge our friends in Lebanon to not let this moment slip away,” he told the Security Council, adding though, “our message is clear: take your country back. And we are all too happy to apply the time and treasure necessary to do that.”Hezbollah “has yet again made it clear that it does not represent nor does it defend the people of Lebanon. It defends the interests of the Iranian regime,” Mr. Waltz said. While that has been the position of America and Israel for a long time, it is now widely echoed by most Lebanese as well. A 1975 clash at Beirut between Palestinian terrorists and a Christian militia threw the county into a bloody 15-year civil war. The country was further steeped in internal rebellion against Syrian occupation. Now the Islamic Republic and its Lebanese proxy are threatening a return to violence.

Hezbollah Attacks on Israel Bring Lebanon Closer to a New Civil War

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