“Have they invaded?” » asks Nour to her friend. “The Israelis say yes, ours say no. Neither Hezbollah nor the army. “I don’t believe anyone anymore,” replies Mariam. It’s Tuesday morning and it’s been a long night in Lebanon. These two companions make roll obsessively on their cell phones from their balcony in downtown Beirut. They are looking for the answer to a yes or no question which, at first glance, is not that difficult either: are they at war?
In the streets of the city, everyone defends their theory, but the only certainty is that Israel announced an invasion on Monday evening, that the Lebanese army and the UN mission withdrew and that Hezbollah remained alone to guard the border.
Samir, retired, worked for ten years in Venezuela, and now his life is a meeting with his friends in the cafes of the Hamra district: “I don’t want to say it too loudly, but for me “The best day in a long time was last Friday.”. He talks about the day when the Israeli army assassinated Hasan Nasrallahleader of the Shiite militia party that Israel faces. “This man was dragging us to hell. They are like Maduro, like the Castros,” he says.
In the predominantly Armenian neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud, a taxi driver predicts that the long-awaited open war will lead to a definitive solution: “Lebanon needs this war. We have to get rid of one of them,” he said of Hezbollah and Israel. “I don’t care who wins.”“I’m happy that there’s a loser who gives up and that either the Jews or the bearded guys give up once and for all,” he says.
What neither the taxi driver nor Samir expected on Tuesday morning was that after a few hours, their country would become nothing more than a simple square on a regional war table. At the end of the afternoon, when it was already dark in this corner of the Mediterranean, hundreds of Iranian projectiles fell on different cities in Israel. Unlike the similar episode that occurred last April, this Tuesday’s attack took by surprise a country which had been warned moments earlier by the United States.
From a cafeteria in a Muslim neighborhood, Bilal watches television in astonishment while smoking his hookah. Al Jazeera shows live panoramic views of four Israeli cities hit by rockets: Yafa, Ashkelon, Netanya and Eilat. “Until now I thought it would be like 2006, but with Iran in the game Everything seems to indicate that the war is going to be much worse. »he said, referring to the 34-day Israeli invasion that took place 18 years ago. “Now Americans have an excuse to get involved,” predicted this unemployed cook a few hours before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris declared their intention to militarily help Israel in the face of Iranian aggression.
Many Lebanese have already succumbed to the fear that they did not dare to show these days. In the Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh, Lina speaks in front of graffiti that says: “Iran outside”. “The bombings, leaving your house… I don’t know if I can take it anymore. »says this 59-year-old woman, who already knows war well. “I want peace, peace, peace!”, he repeats angrily. It irritates him that regional powers use his small country – the size of Navarre – to fight for their interests.
Nada, a Syrian refugee who arrived in Lebanon in 2018 fleeing another war, works in the Lina neighborhood. Last night, she took her five children and began the journey back to her country. “They want to leave. At least there the schools are open,” he said while finalizing the preparations. Nothing knows that they are still in danger in Syria and that they will not be safer than in Lebanon, but she is not willing to go through the difficult times ahead alone. If she has to live through another war, she prefers to reunite with her family and not in Beirut.
While Lina and Nada express their anguish, the cheers and explosions vibrate the other neighborhoods of Beirut. The situation in the afternoon was the same in parts of Iran, in Gaza and in the West Bank as well. Many celebrate Tehran’s attacks on Israel this Tuesday as a reversal of the course of the war.
Although Netanyahu warned Iran that it would “pay for this grave mistake,” it is unclear who else would do so other than the Iranians. Shortly after the attacks, Israel warns it will respond “with force” across “the entire Middle East”. Later, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army announced Tel Aviv’s response after the Iranian attacks: “We will attack where we want, when we want and how we want.” » This only suggests that this afternoon’s aggression against Israel will also have repercussions in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, four countries attacked by Netanyahu’s army so far this week.
For now, last night, Israel carried out another attack in Haret Reik, a neighborhood of Dahie, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the Zionist state’s operations against the Lebanese capital are concentrated. Dahié is one of the most densely populated districts in all of Lebanon, and Hezbollah has its stronghold and headquarters there. There, last Friday evening, Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of this Shiite militia party which now faces the invasion of the Israeli Defense Forces, was also “eliminated” last Friday evening.
