People were angry at Israel when airstrikes hit their Beirut neighborhoods, but they reserved their deepest anger for Hezbollah, which has dragged Lebanon into Middle East wars.
On February 28, Israel and the United States launched a large-scale attack on Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader and triggering large-scale retaliation.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, already weakened by the war, attacks Israel in support of its sponsors, plunging Lebanon into a cycle of new attacks, deaths and mass displacement.
“Hezbollah must hand over its weapons to the state, that’s it,” Randa Habu, an elderly woman who runs a fruit and vegetable stall near Aisha Bakar, told AFP.
A densely populated area was attacked on Wednesday morning, injuring four people and sending shockwaves through the capital, according to the health ministry.
Another woman, who declined to give her name and told AFP a relative was injured, accused Hezbollah of forcing “one too many wars” on the Lebanese.
-“Kill each other”-
When peace returned to Lebanon, which was torn apart by a civil war that ended in 1990, only Hezbollah refused to hand over its weapons to the state.
For decades it was thought to possess an arsenal more powerful than its military, and it fought multiple wars with Israel, each of which resulted in devastating losses.
The latest hostilities were supposed to end with a ceasefire in 2024, but the ceasefire has also proven fragile, with Israeli attacks continuing despite the Lebanese military’s attempts to disarm Hezbollah under the terms of the ceasefire.
“I don’t care about Hezbollah!” Amal Hisham, 46, screamed as he inspected the damage to his cousin’s apartment.
The windows were smashed and the golden sofa was in pieces.
Hisham is also angry at Israel, saying she cannot blame just one side. “They were just killing each other,” she said.
“Do you think they are happy that their area has been destroyed? They are not happy. Their families have been displaced,” she said, referring to Hezbollah members and their broader support base.
“Who is going to compensate these people?”
-“A pointless battle”-
After the injured were evacuated, residents began to wonder who the target was.
One shop owner, who also requested anonymity, believes Hezbollah operatives are hiding there, while others believe it is Hamas, the group’s Palestinian ally.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Mohammed Ahmed, 42, “the presence of Hezbollah or Hamas poses a huge danger to us.”
“If a person wants to be martyred, let him stay where he is…let him die alone, why come to someone who is already tired?”
Lebanon is deeply divided along sectarian lines, and Hezbollah has roots in the Shia Muslim community, which has long been marginalized by the authorities.
Aisha Bakar is one of several Sunni Muslim-majority communities in Beirut, while Lebanon is also home to Christians, Druze and other religious people.
– ‘They shot my son’ –
Aziza, who has provided shelter to families fleeing the 2024 war, worries about an influx of displaced people in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah dominates and is bombarded by Israel.
“We came to welcome them… and they shot my son in the leg,” she said, after he complained about them raising the Hezbollah flag.
On the other side of Beirut, in predominantly Christian Mar Mikhael, a 68-year-old grocery store owner also expressed regret at the group’s decision to join the fight.
“Hezbollah makes decisions without considering the country or even its support base, and it is waging a meaningless battle… What good does it do? You fire one missile, they will fire a hundred missiles at you,” he said.
Hezbollah reached the peak of its popularity after the 2006 war with Israel, which it claimed to have won.
That changed.
“We never hated Saied,” city worker Ghada said, referring to the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel in 2024.
“He is the one who stops Israel,” she said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced about three hours before Hezbollah’s statement that Hezbollah had “formally entered the war,” reinforcing the belief that Hezbollah was operating solely as a proxy for Iran.
Some Lebanese Shiites are also growing impatient.
“No one wants this war,” Shia lawyer Lena Hamdan told AFP, adding that her community “were the first victims”.
A long-time critic, she believes the war could be a “turning point” for Hezbollah, whose military activities were outlawed by the government last week.
While many displaced people stranded in the capital refrained from criticizing Hezbollah, some expressed dismay.
“What’s the point of this war? It’s meaningless,” said her 53-year-old mother, Hiam, hiding in the school.
Hezbollah runs schools and hospitals and has long provided aid to Lebanese Shiites.
“This time, we have to rely on ourselves,” Shyam added.
cl/nad/ser
