Lebanon Is Also Burning: The war on Iran has spilled into Lebanon, and Israel's plan for the country appears bleak.

Israel has seemingly decided to use Lebanon as a convenient lever to prevent a cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran.

https://prospect.org/2026/04/10/lebanon-burning-hezbollah-iran-israel-war/


Firefighters extinguish burned cars at the site of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, April 8, 2026. Credit: Hussein Malla/AP Photo

BEIRUT – Following Donald Trump’s apparent threat to hit Iran with nuclear weapons Tuesday night, as part of his unprovoked war of aggression on that country, he abruptly announced a two-week cease-fire between the U.S. and that country, reportedly mediated by Pakistan. However, per the terms announced by the Iranian government, the deal was conditional on Lebanon’s inclusion under the umbrella of peace.

Twelve hours later, Israel launched at least 160 bombs at targets all across Lebanon within a span of just ten minutes, killing more than 300 people and injuring over 1,000, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The death toll continues to rise. It marked the deadliest Israeli attack since the beginning of the war back in 2023, underscoring the fact that Israel’s attacks are unlikely to stop, and hence the cease-fire is not likely to hold. Sure enough, on Wednesday afternoon Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz would once again be closed because of Israel’s violation of the terms. Then on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered his cabinet to begin direct negotiations with the Lebanese government, but they retorted that a cease-fire is necessary first. If these negotiations take place, it would be a historic event since Lebanon doesn’t recognize the state of Israel and has never had direct negotiations.

So warplanes and missiles still roar overhead every few minutes over Beirut. Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital long controlled by Hezbollah, is now reduced to a ghost town following the daily bombings. Buildings are ruined or lie flattened to their foundations, debris is everywhere, and most people have fled. Fear has taken root among the remaining population. Inside overcrowded shelters, tensions run high, as fighters argue with shopkeepers, demanding they switch off surveillance cameras. Lebanon has been on edge since late February, when the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran, and that conflict rapidly spilled over into Lebanon. When Israeli and American forces assassinated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei[ on February 28, Hezbollah—a hybrid of political party and paramilitary force allied with Iran that has historically controlled much of southern Lebanon—retaliated by launching rockets and drones at an Israeli air defense base south of Haifa.

Since then, Israel has expanded both its war and its presence in Lebanon. Its campaign now includes ground incursions, so far limited, apparently aimed at establishing a demilitarized buffer zone south of the Litani River, which is about 20 miles north of Lebanon’s southern border, possibly extending a few miles further to the Zahrani River. This would leave something like a quarter of Lebanon’s current territory under Israeli control. The broader region has been radically destabilized by the war and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. Lebanon is now feeling the full weight of those repercussions, facing yet another Israeli offensive. In the view of many observers, neither the United States nor its Israeli ally is seeking democracy or the well-being of local populations. Rather, their objective appears to be the creation of a new regional order even more dominated by Washington and Tel Aviv by reducing all their regional enemies to ruin and penury—even if it might have backfired spectacularly this time by allowing Iran to seize control of the strait and impose a toll on it.

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