There is a whiff of war in Lebanon. Haunted by memories of previous conflicts, many Lebanese are worried about a major escalation in hostilities, and preparing for the worst.
Families have packed emergency bags in case they need to suddenly be evacuated. People have begun stockpiling medicine and water. In Tyre, the urban soundscape is occasionally interrupted by the sound of bombardment coming from the frontier. And elsewhere in southern Lebanon, which shares a border with Israel, some towns are deserted.
The border has been the site of a so-far-contained conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel – with dozens of fatalities, nevertheless – in a splinter of the broader Israel-Gaza war.
On this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada Homsi from The National’s Beirut bureau asks how Lebanon’s Hezbollah is involved in the current conflict – and where it could go from here.
