Amid rising tensions in Middle East, Hezbollah & Lebanese civilians brace for war with Israel

As the Middle East remains on the brink of war, Lebanon-based Hezbollah has started moving its leaders out of Beirut to safer locations, according to reports.

The development comes as Hezbollah has said that the conflict with Israel has entered a new phase. Earlier this week, Israel on Tuesday struck a compound in Lebanon’s capital Beirut and killed Faud Shukr, the military chief of Hezbollah. Hours later, in the early hours of Wednesday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran’s capital Tehran. Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the killing.

While the assassination of Shukr, who Israel said was behind the Golan Heights attack that killed 12 children, itself had raised fears of a war between Israel and Hezbollah, the assassination of Haniyeh further worsened the situation and raised fears of a direct war as Iran has vowed revenge and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered direct attacks on Israel.

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Amid such tensions, the Arab media has reported that Hezbollah has moved senior leaders along with war-waging equipment out of Beirut where they can be struck easily by Israel.

Locals also flee Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut

The southern sub-urbs of Beirut have been known as the strongholds of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed anti-Israel terrorist group based in Lebanon.

Now, locals are fleeing these sub-urbs as they fear they could become collateral damage in the fight between Israel and Hezbollah, according to DPA news agency. A Lebanese security source was quoted as saying that “the situation is very worrying”.

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Hospitals in Lebanon have also started preparing for a war involving Israel. Sleiman Haroun, the head of Private Hospital Syndicate, told the agency that “all private hospitals have been prepared”.

“We have trained medical staff and carried out manoeuvres in hospitals in order to be ready for a war,” said Haroun.

Haroun further told the agency that the hospitals have medical supplies but expressed concern as to whether the supplies would be sufficient.

As long as the airport and the seaport in Beirut remained open, the supplies should be sufficient, said Haroun.

‘War against Israel has entered new phase’

Following Shukr’s assassination, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the war against Israel had entered a new phase, according to Al Jazeera.

Nasrallah said Israel should expect “rage and revenge”.

Nasrallah said that a response to Shukr’s assassination was “inevitable” and that “real, studied” actions were in the offing. He further said that Israel had crossed all red lines with the hit.

Since the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, Hezbollah has clashed with Israel on nearly-daily basis. The two countries have exchanged rockets and strikes regularly but have so far avoided a full-scale war.

Hezbollah is the largest of all Iran-backed groups in the Middle East. It is part of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ along with Hamas, Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria. The bloc shares Iran’s opposition to Israel and its commitment to the destruction of the State of Israel.

In its public assessment, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said that Hezbollah has around 45,000 fighters and an arsenal of around 150,000 missiles and rockets of various types.