Lebanon is being dragged back into conflict as Hezbollah resumed attacks on Israel following the Iran strikes. Simona Foltyn reports from the outskirts of the capital city of Beirut.
Amna Nawaz:
Now for a look at the wider region, let’s turn to our special correspondent in Lebanon, a country being dragged back into conflict as Hezbollah has resumed attacks on Israel.
Simona Foltyn is coming to us from the outskirts of the capital city of Beirut.
And, Simona, we know those Hezbollah attacks on Israel come more than a year after a cease-fire deal that went into place after the 2024 war, a war that left Hezbollah very much weakened. Why would they decide to attack now?
Simona Foltyn:
Well, Amna, Hezbollah would have weighed its domestic interests with its desire or duty to support its main regional ally and backer, Iran.
And based on this reaction, it seems that the latter interests prevailed. Now, there is a big question mark about the military value of this attack. It was pretty symbolic. The rockets were intercepted and inflicted very limited, if any damage on the Israeli side, whereas the IDF’s response was much more devastating.
Now, of course, as you mentioned, Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in the last full-scale war with Israel.
Amna Nawaz:
You mentioned that IDF response to the Hezbollah latest attacks. They have killed more than 50 people in and around Beirut, tens of thousands of people again being displaced from Southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Tell us a little bit more about the impact and also the reaction from inside Lebanon.
Simona Foltyn:
Well, the impact has been quite devastating, especially for Hezbollah’s own constituents.
There has been, again, another wave of displacement, large-scale bombardment of villages in the south, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs. So it has caused once again displacement, once again panic, once again a lot of uncertainty about whether this country will once again be plunged into full-scale war.
But what is perhaps most noteworthy is the governments’ reactions. Earlier today, following an emergency cabinet session, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced a ban on Hezbollah military and intelligence activities. And this is quite unprecedented in this country, because previously the group was somehow recognized as the so-called resistance, as being part of the country’s defenses.
So, essentially, with this government decision, Hezbollah has become somewhat of an outlawed group, at least when it comes to its military wing.
Amna Nawaz:
Simona, we know you also lived in Dubai for many years. Of course, you reported from the region for years.
These fears of a widening regional war, how big are they? How real are they?
Simona Foltyn:
Well, this is quite an unprecedented situation in the region and especially in the Gulf countries. If you look at places like the United Arab Emirates or Qatar, these are countries that were considered safe havens for Arabs and Muslims who were fleeing conflict elsewhere in the region.
So this is something that these countries have not really seen. Now, so far, the air defense systems that have been supplied by the United States have managed to intercept most of the Iranian missiles that have been targeting these places. So the human casualties have been relatively low.
But these countries are being hit where it hurts the most. And that’s their economic engines. Just to give you a sense of — for example, Dubai’s airport is the second largest in the world. Its Jebel Ali port is the ninth largest shipping port in the world. And now essentially all of the economic activity in the Gulf region has come to a halt.
Airspace is closed. We have seen footage of five-star hotels being hit with debris. We have seen ports being targeted. We have seen oil installations being targeted. So all of that is quite significant.
Amna Nawaz:
That is special correspondent Simona Foltyn joining us from outside Beirut, Lebanon.
Simona, thank you.
