The escalation of the war between Israel, the US and Iran has caused a new refugee crisis in Lebanon. Parliamentary elections were postponed due to the fighting. How are local residents experiencing the escalation?
“I took the boy and the girl by the hand,” Rola Atwi, a 36-year-old mother from the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, told DW. “Then we left the house. A little later it was destroyed by an Israeli attack.” Since then, the family has been living on the streets in a coastal neighborhood in west Beirut. “My daughter has epilepsy,” Atwi says. “She has seizures when she hears loud noises.” Protecting the children is now her most urgent task. “I feel numb, completely empty. I just want my daughter to be safe.” The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia attacked Israel after the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week, drawing all of Lebanon into the war.
Since then, the situation on both sides of the Lebanese-Israeli border has deteriorated. In Israel, civilians are being hit by both Hezbollah and Iranian attacks. However, due to defense systems and shelters, it appears that the number of civilian casualties remains limited.
In Lebanon, on the other hand, Israeli attacks have caused a humanitarian crisis of huge proportions. According to Lebanese health authorities, 486 people have been killed and around 1.300 injured since Monday (09.03.2026). The Ministry of Health does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. On Tuesday, the United Nations revised the death toll upwards. 570 people had been killed and more than 750.000 had been forced to flee their homes. “Families, who have suffered from great deprivation for years, are again on the run. Thousands are forced to sleep in cars or in public spaces,” Suzanne Takkenberg, Regional director of the aid organization Action Against Hunger for Lebanon, told DW in an interview.
The resumption of fighting effectively ends a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. In November 2024, a US-brokered deal ended 11 months of fighting and two months of open war, in which some 4000 people died. During this time, Israel also launched a ground offensive in Lebanon. A day after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah’s military wing also attacked the Jewish state. Hamas and Hezbollah belong to the so-called “axis of resistance,” an alliance of various groups in the Middle East, led by Iran, that sees Israel and the United States as enemies and calls for their destruction. Hamas and Hezbollah are classified as terrorist organizations by the US, Germany and many other countries.
DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP WITH HIZBOLLAH
The Financial Times reported (10.03.2026) that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah could continue even after the end of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Meanwhile, Lebanese politicians are preparing for a longer fight. On Monday, the Lebanese parliament extended its legislative period by two years. Parliamentary elections originally scheduled for May were postponed. The parliament considers it unrealistic to hold national elections under conditions of war and mass displacement. In early March, the Lebanese government banned all military and security activities of Hezbollah. Only the Lebanese state can decide on matters of war and peace, the newspaper explained.
However, Hezbollah spokespeople continue to appear on Lebanese television channels. “Hezbollah’s influence over the Lebanese state for more than 20 years has enabled it to occupy many sensitive positions in the judiciary, the security apparatus and the administration, and thus to be able to bypass state decisions,” political scientist Ralph Baydoun told DW. Not only the army but also Hezbollah’s political wing is closely intertwined with Iran’s political and financial network, Baydoun explains. Furthermore, the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have long had difficulties implementing the disarmament of Hezbollah, which was agreed upon in the November 2024 ceasefire.
HIZBOLLAH: RESISTANCE TO DISARMAMENT
Hezbollah has so far surrendered a large portion of its weapons south of the Litani River, but refuses to fully disarm. It justifies this by the need to defend the country against ongoing Israeli attacks and the Israeli military presence along the shared border. Israel, on the other hand, has said it will continue to attack Hezbollah as long as it poses a threat.
“Hezbollah never agreed to the Lebanese armed forces’ efforts to disarm,” Ralph Baydoun told DW. At the same time, he points out that the six rockets that sparked the current conflict were fired from a position south of the Litani River. For Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, disarmament remains a key issue, also because it is linked to the international investment urgently needed to rebuild after the damage from the previous war. At the time, the World Bank estimated the costs at around eleven billion US dollars (9.5 billion euros).
DISARMAMENT THROUGH GROUND OFFENSIVE?
The Israeli military on Tuesday called on all residents of southern Lebanon to leave their homes and announced it would take “the strongest action” against Hezbollah in the south. However, observers doubt that an Israeli ground offensive would actually lead to Hezbollah’s disarmament.
“Historically and practically, Hezbollah feels more comfortable in a ground confrontation,” Sami Halabi of the Beirut-based Institute for Alternative Policies tells DW. “An Israeli ground offensive would hardly be able to disarm Hezbollah. On the contrary, it would anchor it even more firmly in Lebanon’s political and security structure.” Ralph Baydoun assesses the situation similarly. “A limited invasion would do nothing but strengthen Hezbollah. Because the ideology of resistance gains strength especially when the ground is occupied,” he tells DW.
THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IS DETERMINING
Meanwhile, the Lebanese population, which has suffered from a series of economic and political crises since 2019, is under new pressures as a result of the conflict.
“In Lebanon, there is a lack of housing and basic services, and even rescue workers are being targeted,” Kelly Petillo of the European Council on Foreign Relations told DW. The biggest challenge is finding ways to protect the entire population. Abbass Saad, a 32-year-old resident of Beirut, assesses the situation similarly. “We are powerless in this war,” he told DW, adding, “I am young and ambitious. But I don’t think the ongoing state of war since October 7 creates good conditions for life here.” (DW)