Beirut — Lebanese anger towards Israel is understandably at an all-time high as Israel’s invasion of Lebanon intensifies and brings further destruction to the Mediterranean nation.
But dissatisfaction with its enemy Hezbollah is also growing.
With 1,400 Lebanese killed across the country and more than 1 million people, a fifth of the country’s population, displaced, many, Hezbollah’s critics and supporters alike, see what many see as a miscalculation by the group. They voice their dissatisfaction with the situation.
“This is a war between Iran and Israel on Lebanese territory,” said Sami Gemayel, a member of parliament from Hezbollah’s long-time rival Kataeb Party.
“Unfortunately, we all got stuck today,” Gemayel said. "Hezbollah is continuing the war. It has no intention of stopping and is trying to make the whole country hell.”
Families of those killed in the Israeli attack have also accused Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group and one of Lebanon’s largest political parties, of lacking a proper plan to evacuate, protect and rescue them.
Slowly picking through the rubble of the six-story building where his brother lived on the outskirts of Beirut, controlled by Hezbollah, Mohammad, 40, who asked to remain anonymous by his first name, wondered when recovery crews would arrive. I wondered. He said the bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and nephew lay among the wreckage.
Rescue workers search for survivors after Israeli airstrikes hit two buildings in Sidon, Lebanon, September 29.
(Mohammad Zaatari/Associated Press)
Hezbollah officials told him he would have to wait because the crew was already overburdened due to “the situation.” However, he noted that officials were actively recovering bodies of Hezbollah members from nearby destroyed buildings.
“We appreciate their sacrifice,” the man said. “But they chose this. Don’t tell me it’s a ‘situation’ for you to remove (the bodies of Hezbollah members) and leave my family under the rubble.” Why do I have to wait for my brother and his family to be buried? We know their bodies will never be found. But please give me some pieces of meat. I’ll put it in a bag and bury it. ”
Many blame Hezbollah for recently starting a conflict with Israel.
Last October, a day after Palestinian militants from Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking an Israeli-Hamas war, Hezbollah joined the fighting, barraging northern Israel with missiles and rockets. Hezbollah has said it aims to support Hamas and force Israel to fight on two fronts.
A year of tit-for-tat border attacks have forced the evacuation of around 60,000 people from northern Israel and 90,000 from southern Lebanon.
The apparent assumption among Hezbollah leaders was that Israel, exhausted by the Gaza campaign, had little appetite for all-out war, especially against a well-armed adversary like Hezbollah. It meant that there was no such thing. That assumption turned out to be spectacularly wrong.
Late last month, Israel launched thousands of airstrikes across Lebanon, hitting Hezbollah-held areas in the south, east and capital Beirut, even as the country’s military launched what it called a “limited invasion.”
But Israel’s evacuation orders continue to expand to new areas every few days, raising fears that nearly a third of the country will be under occupation.
Two Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut on Thursday, killing at least 22 people and injuring 92 others, authorities said.
Israeli media reported that the target was Wafik Safa, a Hezbollah operative who has been under sanctions by the United States since 2019.
Thursday’s attack was the third to hit the capital’s center and the deadliest so far in the year-long conflict. The aftermath was chaotic, with residents fleeing into the streets as ambulances and fire engines struggled to navigate the neighborhood’s narrow streets.
Mark Dow, a member of parliament for the non-Hezbollah-aligned bloc, said nationalist and anti-Israel fervor is top of mind for most Lebanese.
“All Lebanese want a firm stance against Israel,” he said. “It is the duty of every Lebanese, regardless of his sect, to fight and resist if he has a profession.”
However, he added that such sentiments do not absolve Hezbollah of responsibility for pushing Lebanon into war and tying its fate to the situation in Gaza. Everything was ordered by Iran.
“Hezbollah is increasingly looking more like a purely Iranian-aligned apparatchik than a locally-based Lebanese political party,” Dow said.
Much of the anger against Hezbollah stems from the fact that Israel has repeatedly demonstrated its espionage capabilities by targeting its leaders, and the group’s leadership appears to be rapidly declining. Among them is longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a massive airstrike last month.
On Wednesday, the men read out a warning on their cellphones to residents of southern Lebanon not to return to their homes until further notice due to Israeli military operations against Hezbollah facilities.
(Hussein Mara/AP)
“It’s clear now that nothing was calculated about this,” said Tony Chakar, a Beirut-based artist and architect who does not support Hezbollah. “The basis for their participation in the war was that they were prepared and had over 100,000 missiles.”
“So where are they?” he asked. “If you have something, please show it to me.”
Criticism has also extended to Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer, with suspicions among die-hard Hezbollah supporters that the lack of a meaningful response to Nasrallah’s killing is evidence that Hezbollah has been sold out to Iran. It’s increasing.
“This could not have happened without betrayal,” said Ali, a Hezbollah supporter. Ali lived in an area controlled by Hezbollah, but his home was destroyed in an airstrike targeting what the Israeli military claimed was a weapons depot. He asked to be identified only by his first name. “Iran stabbed us in the back. That’s clear.”
Dissatisfaction with Iran’s level of support is so widespread that Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qasem addressed the issue in a televised speech on Tuesday.
“Iran decides how to help, how to donate, and has given (a lot) over the years,” he said, adding, “This fight is about Iran and its influence in the region. It is not a fight over the war, but rather to liberate Palestine.”
Israel has focused its operations primarily on areas that support Hezbollah, and most of the displaced people are from Lebanon’s Shiite community. They fled north with as much luggage as they could cram into or onto their cars. Those unable to find space to spend time with their families or hastily prepared shelters are now camping in public squares, parks and even on the sidewalks along Beirut’s famous beach promenade.
Mustafa Alloush, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker from the northern city of Tripoli, where tens of thousands of displaced people have fled, said the longer they stay, the more friction there will be.
“So far everyone has behaved well,” Allosh said. Some local residents are cautious about accepting refugees for fear of unknowingly harboring Hezbollah members and being attacked by Israeli gunfire, but others are opening houses without regard for sectarianism. There are some too.
“But if it goes beyond a certain point, there could be a social explosion,” Alloush warned.
A woman at a rally in Rio de Janeiro this week held a placard that read “Stop Bombing Lebanon” in Portuguese.
(Bruna Prado/AP)
Israel appears to be counting on disillusionment with Hezbollah. In a televised address on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Lebanese people to “rise up” and take back their country from the group, warning them to “save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war.” It brings destruction and suffering like what we are seeing in Gaza. ”
Analysts say Israel has a larger strategy aimed at turning Lebanese against Hezbollah.
“The reason they don’t bomb other (non-Shia) areas is because they want to create a very inhospitable environment for Hezbollah,” said Michael Young, an analyst at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center. . “This suggests a much more ambitious plan than simply a question of securing borders.”
Gemayel, a member of the Kataeb party, fears such a scenario could lead to a repeat of the sectarian bloodshed that engulfed Lebanon during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990. .
“As long as there is hope for these people to return home, we can deal with it,” he said. “But it would be a different story if Israel decided to stay. Then Lebanon would collapse.”
