 "Journalists film at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. - The Israeli army said it had conducted a \"targeted strike\" on the Lebanese capital on September 23. AFP")
Is this the beginning of the war that everyone feared? Lebanon witnessed its deadliest day on Monday (September 23) as Israel launched multiple airstrikes, killing nearly 500 people, including women and children.
Analysts call it the largest campaign of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, since the 2006 war.
The escalation has prompted world leaders to step in and avoid a further spiral in violence, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres saying he didn’t want Lebanon to “become another Gaza”. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also expressed concern, saying, “We are almost in a full-fledged war”.
Even as Lebanese flee their homes in cover for safety and Israel vows to achieve their goals, we take a closer look at just how Israel and Hezbollah have got here. How has the enmity between the two escalated to such bloody levels?
What’s happening now?
In the past 24 hours, a lot has happened. On Monday (September 23), a week after pagers and walkie-talkies blew up in Lebanon, Israel launched a new aerial offensive against Hezbollah — named Northern Arrows — targeting southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the country’s capital, Beirut.
The Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 492 people, with the Lebanese health ministry saying this toll includes 35 children. Meanwhile, Israel said it killed a “large number” of Hezbollah militants when it hit about 1,600 sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a “targeted strike” in Beirut.
Shortly after Israel’s airstrikes began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a message to the Lebanese people saying that Israel’s war was not with the Lebanese people, but with Hezbollah, which has been placing missiles in their homes.
“I have a message for the people of Lebanon: Israel’s war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens. To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out those weapons,” said the Israeli prime minister.
He further urged people to evacuate and seek safety elsewhere, saying, “Don’t let Hezbollah endanger your lives and the lives of your loved ones. Don’t let Hezbollah endanger Lebanon. Please, get out of harm’s way now. Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”
This prompted several locals to flee their homes , and visuals from the country showed roads north towards Beirut being clogged with traffic, with vehicles heading towards the capital on both sides of a six-lane coastal highway.
Retaliating to Israel’s operation, Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets toward Israel, including at military bases.
The Israeli airstrikes have analysts and world leaders concerned that it will push the West Asian region into a full-fledged war. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told reporters that Israel was seeking a wider war in the region and laying “traps” to lead his country into a wider conflict. “They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go,” the Iranian leader said of Israel. “There is no winner in warfare. We are only fooling ourselves” if we believe that.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said the US was “working to de-escalate the situation, while the Pentagon said it was sending “a small number” of additional troops to West Asia” out of an abundance of caution”.
Why is this happening now?
Lebanon’s bloodiest day since 2006 comes a week after a series of pagers and communication devices blew up, for which Hezbollah has blamed Israel. On September 17, hundreds of pagers suddenly and simultaneously blew up across Lebanon in an apparently coordinated attack that targeted members of Hezbollah. At least 12 people were killed and more than 2,000 others injured.
A day later, walkie-talkies owned by Hezbollah members exploded, killing at least 20 people and wounding hundreds of others. Israel did not claim this attack, either, but experts said that the attack did bear signs that Israel’s Mossad and the Unit 8200 were involved.
This was followed up by Israel flattening a residential building in Dahiya, believed to be a Hezbollah stronghold, on Friday (September 20). The Lebanese health ministry announced that 45 people had been killed while Israel stated that it had killed “around 10” senior commanders in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
The airstrikes continued over the weekend, prompting Hezbollah to launch its own counter — a rain of more than 100 missiles, rockets and drones. According to reports, these hit deep into the Jewish nation, its deepest since the start of the war last October.
Interestingly, last Wednesday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel was readying for a “new phase” in the war, announcing the deployment of the 98th Division to the north, near the Lebanese border.
Why are Israel and Hezbollah enemies though?
The airstrikes are a continuation of Israel’s enmity with Hezbollah, which saw its bloodiest moment in 2006. The 2006 Lebanon war was particularly devastating, killing more than 1,000 people, and leading to an estimated $2.8 billion in damage across Lebanon.
In the following years, Israel and Hezbollah remained foes. However, in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas last year, the tensions between the two have increased significantly. Since the audacious attack in 2023, Hezbollah has traded daily cross-border firing with Israel.
Hezbollah says its actions, such as firing rockets into northern Israel, are in support of the Palestinian cause. Notably, Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran, which has long been an adversary of Israel. The Lebanese-based group is much more closely aligned with Iran’s foreign policy objectives, note experts.
Before Monday’s deadly attack, the two were on the verge of an all-out war in July when a rocket struck the Druze Arab town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights , killing 12 children. The Jewish nation blamed Hezbollah for the attack, which denied the claim.
This led to Israel striking Beirut’s southern suburbs on July 30, killing Hezbollah’s top commander in the south, Fuad Shukr. Later, in an August 21 strike, the Israeli military killed Khalil Maqdah, described by the Palestinian Fatah movement as “one of the leaders” of its armed wing in Lebanon.
What comes next?
Monday’s attack has caused concern that an all-out war is on the horizon. The United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it has “grave concern for the safety of civilians in southern Lebanon amidst the most intense Israeli bombing campaign since last October.” The group called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Egypt has also called for diplomacy in a statement condemning what it said was a “dangerous Israeli escalation in Lebanon”.
Meanwhile, President Biden said he and other leaders are “working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely.”
However, it remains unknown if Biden will succeed in convincing PM Netanyahu to stop. But for now, it seems peace and stability are a distant dream for the region.
With inputs from agencies