WHILE the entire Gulf region has become an active warzone, repercussions of this conflict have spread to the Mediterranean too, as Israel has stepped up its brutal campaign against Lebanon, particularly the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah. Though the latest round of violence in Lebanon was sparked after Hezbollah targeted Israel following the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it should be remembered that Israel had violated the ceasefire reached in November 2024 thousands of times, killing over 100 civilians. Therefore, it seemed only a matter of time before hostilities resumed. The fresh Israeli aggression has had a devastating effect on Lebanon; some 700,000 people are displaced and living in “cold and overcrowded shelters”, according to Unicef. Moreover, Human Rights Watch has said Tel Aviv used white phosphorus to target civilians in Lebanon, which is considered illegal by many scholars of war. The Israeli brutality has even caught the EU’s foreign policy chief off guard; while Western states often take a lenient view of Tel Aviv’s monstrous violence, Kaja Kallas has termed the Zionist response in Lebanon “heavy-handed”.

Though the Lebanese president has criticised Hezbollah’s involvement in attacks targeting Israel, the fact is that the Arab nation’s army is unable to defend its borders against an ever-expansionist Israel. The disarmament of Hezbollah is a sensitive issue in Lebanon, but due to the weakness of the Lebanese army — some would say Washington deliberately withholds heavy weapons from it to ensure Israel maintains a strategic edge — Tel Aviv is free to violate Lebanon’s sovereignty and slaughter its citizens at will. Nearly 500 Lebanese have been murdered by Israel in the latest round of hostilities, while Tel Aviv continues to occupy Lebanese territory. This behaviour is not unique. The Zionist state has been butchering Palestinians in the occupied territories for decades, while it has also expanded its occupation of Syrian territory. The war on Iran, meanwhile, has been an Israeli dream for years. Though the international community seems unable to stop Israel or the US from spreading chaos, Lebanon needs immediate attention. Israeli attacks against Lebanese civilians must stop forthwith, while all territory Israel has occupied must be vacated. If a negotiated end to the hostilities is not reached, then those subjected to Israeli aggression will resist by any means necessary.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026