Image Source: NPR
Middle East – Amidst a fragile two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, and according to Beirut-based Executive Producer, Director, Writer and Podcaster Salam El-Zaatari, the attacks have not targeted Hezbollah strongholds but the heart of the Lebanese capital itself, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring many more.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who played a part in brokering the truce, said earlier in the week that the two-week ceasefire covers the entire region, specifically mentioning Lebanon.
“With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Sharif wrote on X.
Washington and Tel Aviv, however, maintain that the agreement applies only to Iran, while Tehran insists it must be extended to include Lebanon, a fundamental disagreement which could cause Iran to withdraw from the ceasefire entirely, jeopardising the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the passage of ships through it, and plunging the region back into open conflict.
El-Zaatari described the scene in Beirut as catastrophic, saying the strikes were unlike anything the city had absorbed in this war. Within ten minutes, 50 aircraft had hit 100 targets with 160 bombs, not in Hezbollah’s southern suburbs, but in the city centre, despite Israeli claims of targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and locations.
“They did not bomb Dahiyeh or the suburbs where usually Hezbollah is located. They bombed the heart of the capital, Beirut, the heart of the city, and it was a massacre. So far, until yesterday, it was between 112 and 180 dead with 700 injured and more than 200 killed.”
Conflicting Interpretations of the Ceasefire
The conflicting interpretations of the ceasefire have deepened anxiety among Lebanon’s civilian population, with refugees hoping to return home to southern Lebanon warned off by Hezbollah itself. El-Zaatari noted that Israel appeared to be deliberately separating the Lebanese and Iranian fronts, pressing ahead with operations in Lebanon even as it withdrew from confrontation with Iran.
“Hezbollah issued a warning telling every refugee that do not to go back home, this is not over yet. Israel is committed to the operations in Lebanon, and despite that, they are pulling out of Iran. So they are separating the two fronts.”
El-Zaatari said the Lebanese population has been pushed to its limits, having endured economic collapse, the Beirut port explosion, a failed revolution and now two wars, all since 2019. The decision by Hezbollah to enter the war in the name of Iran had fractured communities and turned citizens against one another.
“People are exhausted, and they just want a solution. When Hezbollah went into the war in the name of Iran, this pissed off a lot of people here. Now everyone is suspicious of their neighbour being affiliated, this is creating a very negative sense.”
