Beyond the Headlines: The weight of Israel and Hezbollah’s warfare on life in Lebanon

On Tuesday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier in the skies over Lebanon, a stunt timed to coincide with Hassan Nasrallah’s speech amid a series of threats by Hezbollah towards Israel and vice versa.

In his address, Nasrallah mocked the intimidation attempt and said an uncomfortable wait for Hezbollah's retaliation is part of the punishment the group is inflicting on Israel for the assassinations of one of its senior commanders and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Meanwhile, foreign governments have issued travel warnings about Lebanon, and airlines have periodically paused flights to and from the country. The cost of flight tickets has soared as people rush to get out. Lebanon’s battered economy must prepare for more burdens as tensions rise, and people are trying to gauge just how serious the situation will become.

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher assesses the impact on day-to-day life and politics in Lebanon as Hezbollah and Israel exchange threats that grow more serious each day.

She speaks to The National’s Beirut correspondent Nada Atallah and Michael Young, columnist for The National and senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.