As of Monday, Sept. 23, Israel has launched a series of airstrike attacks on central Beirut at 6:30 a.m., killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as well as thousands of southern Lebanese citizens. In addition to the Israeli military’s missile launch, they also forced more than 10,000 people from their homes in one of the most statistically violent charges Lebanon has undergone since its civil war of 1975. Israel claims to be invading Lebanon in response to the Hezbollah political party. They intend to “return displaced citizens to the north,” according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Ever since early in the 20th century, the two countries Israel and Lebanon have clashed over political and war conflicts. The conflict between these countries has been off-and-on, with the nations fighting in a civil war from 1975-1990. The civil war period was followed by about 15 years of a seemingly successful peace agreement. This “peace” remained true until tensions rose again with the 2006 Lebanon War, falling soon again after battle took place. However, concerns spiked yet again in 2023 when Hezbollah – a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party – began firing attacks at Israeli citizens, which ultimately led to the rising aggression levels currently being shown by Israel in 2024.
The event of missile airstrikes is just the start to a much larger Israeli invasion on Hezbollah. Despite clear statements about specifically directing all aggression towards Hezbollah, the impact of this conflict has been far more extensive, as “at least 28 health-care workers in Lebanon have been killed in the past 24 hours,” according to World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Rising death tolls have contributed to public concerns about potential war participation for ally nations – specifically the United States. With this, the American people have demanded that the government declares its stances on the war conflict. Citizen expression of feelings about joining in have changed over the years, but the current violence has driven public desire for U.S. interference more than ever before. According to Pew Research Center, “A majority of Americans (61%) say the U.S. should play a role in diplomatically resolving the Israel-Hamas war.” Fearful of war, yet disgusted by this hostility, Americans mainly hope to restore democracy by putting a stop to the invasion. The U.S. government has had close relations with both Israel and Lebanon for decades. However, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says, “The Biden Administration believes it is appropriate for Israel to continue with its ground and air attacks on Hezbollah for now.” Siding with and showing global support for Israel has U.S. citizens worried about possibly adding to war conflicts as well as increasing chances of America becoming directly involved.
Recent updates on the situation in Lebanon state that overall wellbeing of civilians is wavering as more and more are being displaced from their homes daily with continuance of this invasion. As advised by the U.S. Department of State, no foreign individual should travel to Lebanon or Israel at this moment in order to ensure personal safety and security until further notice.
