Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-04-02
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Tarek Abou Jaoude, Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Queen’s University Belfast
Since March 29, the Israeli army has extended its operations in southern Lebanon. This new conflict with Hezbollah, ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is part of a long series of attemptsof Israelto dismantle the Shiite groupLebanese, the end of which cannot be seen.
The Lebanese population is preparing for the worst, knowing that previous Israeli invasions have almost always resulted inlong periods of occupation. The opacity of the situation on the ground exacerbates the fears of the Lebanese.
Conflicting information is circulating regarding the success or failure of the Israeli incursions. According to a widely spread but unconfirmed rumor, Israeli troops are said to have taken theBeaufort Castle, a 12th-century fortresseA century-old building overlooking the Litani River on its northern bank.
This watercourse, which crosses southern Lebanon from east to west, marks the southernmost region of the country. Israeli officials consider it abuffer zoneagainst Hezbollah attacks. However, someIsraeli extremist groupsstart ataspire to settle there.
While Hezbollah is fighting the Israeli army south of the Litani, another form of confrontation is taking place in the north — where moreone million people, mainly Shiites from the south and the Bekaa Valley, have moved to flee the hostilities.
In this country deeply divided along very clear religious lines, even if they are not official, the massive influx of displaced Shiites into traditionally Christian and Sunni areas fuels sectarian tensions.
Information circulated that displaced women and childrenwould have been turned awaydue to suspicions of loyalty to Hezbollah. Many displaced men are also considered agents of Hezbollah. Their presence in non-Shiite areas, it is said, could lead to Israeli strikes.
Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock
The feeling is quite different from that which prevailed in 2024, when the country was united by afeeling of indignation and injustice. This conflict had started with a wave of attacks against Hezbollah. Israel had then detonated thousands of booby-trapped pagers, causing42 deadand thousands of injured.
The context is more mixed this time. Most Lebanese believe that the war broke out after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. As a result, many Lebanese feel that they were dragged into a war.which is not theirs.
Added to this is the fact that Israel did not hesitate toattack non-Shia areaswhere Guards of the Iranian revolution were hiding. As a result, Lebanese Christians and Sunnis are less willing to welcome the displaced.
The government’s lack of preparation exacerbates the situation. In order to house and feed the displaced, it had totransform 1,000 schools into temporary shelters, while many displaced peoplerent accommodations from private owners. This results in a lack of clear demarcation between the local populations and the displaced.
On March 24, ballistic missile fragmentscoming from an Iranian shothit the Christian neighborhood of the coastal city of Jounieh. It only took a few hours for agroup of residents try to evictdisplaced persons whom they blamed for the damages suffered.
A few days earlier, in Beirut, someresidents of the Karantina neighborhood with a Christian majorityhad had a project for a displaced persons’ center canceled for fear of attracting strikes there.
Some elements indicate that Israel is seeking to provoke a kind of uprising against Hezbollah by stoking sectarian tensions in Lebanon. At the beginning of March, Israel issued a series of warnings aimed at the residents of southern Lebanon. It urged themto evacuate the region and to head“to the north, towards Tripoli [majority Sunni]… and to the east, towards Mount Lebanon [majority Christian].”
A few days later, on March 13, Israeli planes dropped leaflets on Beirut stating that “Hezbollah is turning your homes intoterrorist hideouts ».
An upcoming political battle
The other difference from the previous conflict lies in the posture of the Lebanese government. In 2024, it was an interim government while the presidency was vacant. In early 2025, Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam were sworn in as president and prime minister, respectively.
Since then, their government, considered pro-American even though it includes two Hezbollah ministers, has promised measures to distance itself from Hezbollah in its operations against Israel, or even from itdisarm.
The 1erIn March, in a clear attempt to protect the rest of the country, heprohibits Hezbollah’s military activities— a first for a Lebanese government. More recently, he tried to expel the Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, to protest against Iranian interference.
The fact that Hezbollah continues to fight Israel and thatthe ambassador defied the government’s orderillustrates the limits of Beirut’s power. However, his positions have reverberated in the country, giving arguments to the anti-Hezbollah elements who accuse this party of acting against the Lebanese state.
The last direct confrontation of this kind dates back to 2008. The government had then attempted to dismantle Hezbollah’s clandestine installations, which had led toviolent sectarian clashes in Beirut.
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Once again, Hezbollah rejects the government’s initiatives. On March 17, the vice-president of its Political Council, Mahmoud Qomati, hasdeclaredthat Hezbollah would be able “to upheave the country and overthrow the government in the face of such decisions.” By implication, he also compared the Lebanese government to the French collaborationist regime during the Nazi occupation.
If we base ourselves on the past, there is unfortunately no hope of seeing the end of hostilities as long as Hezbollah and the Lebanese government continue to oppose each other so openly. The absence of any Shia representative within theLebanese delegation expectedto negotiate a ceasefire illustrates the distance that separates them.
As Hezbollah continues to fight Israel in southern Lebanon, the entire country risks being engulfed in a new devastating civil conflict.
Tarek Abou Jaoude benefits from funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
–ref. Campaign against Hezbollah: Israel fuels sectarian tensions in Lebanon –https://theconversation.com/campagne-contre-le-hezbollah-israel-attise-les-tensions-sectaires-au-liban-279706