Hezbollah has blasted the Lebanese government’s US-backed plan to disarm the resistance group by the end of the year with the goal that all weapons in Lebanon would be confined to state institutions. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nawaz Salam announced that the government had asked the army to formulate a plan by the end of August. Hezbollah sharply criticized the move as a capitulation, pointing to Israel’s continued frequent bombing of Lebanon and its occupation of several positions in the south of the country. “We are open to dialogue, ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, liberating its land, releasing prisoners, working to build the state, and rebuilding what was destroyed by the brutal [Israeli] aggression,” Hezbollah said in a statement, adding that the government’s decision “came as a result of the dictation by U.S. envoy [Tom] Barrack.”
In a televised address, Hezbollah Secretary‑General Naim Qassem warned that if Israel launches another full-scale war, “missiles will fall on Israel,” declaring that “all the security they have built … will collapse within an hour.”
On Wednesday night, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Lebanon, bombing the south of the country at least 19 times across 10 different locations in the Nabatieh, Jezzine, and Marjayoun districts. The heaviest strikes hit the eastern border village of Deir Siriane, where three missiles struck a single site. Ambulances are struggling to reach the area under open fire. The municipality of Deir Siriane condemned the “brutal and repeated Israeli attacks targeting safe areas in the South.”
Since, a so-called “ceasefire” went into effect between Israel and Lebanon in November, Israel has violated the agreement hundreds of times and continues to bomb areas across Lebanon on a frequent basis, including in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut that is one of the city’s most densely populated civilian areas. In September, Israel dropped eighty 2,000 pound bombs on Dahiyeh to assassinate then Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the group for more than 30 years and an icon of modern resistance politics in the Arab world.
One of the biggest recent airstrikes on Beirut came on June 5—the eve of Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest days in Islam—when Israel issued a set of displacement orders in Dahiyeh before launching a series of strikes that reduced apartment buildings and entire city blocks to rubble.
Jeremy Loffredo, reporting for Drop Site News, was granted access to Dahiyeh to report on the aftermath of the attack just hours after the bombs fell. The targeted sites consisted of residential buildings, local businesses, and community infrastructure. While the Israeli military claimed it struck drone production factories operated by Hezbollah, no evidence was provided to substantiate the allegations neither before nor after the strikes. Local officials and residents strongly denied the presence of any military installations.
Loffredo documented the extensive destruction as locals returned to find their homes and businesses destroyed. In this panoramic video report, residents of Dahiyeh share their perspectives about the June bombing, Lebanese resistance, and the government of Lebanon.
