Israeli War Rages against Lebanese Population
—Again

March 16, 2026

When the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, Israel also attacked Lebanon—once again.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justifies this bombing of Lebanon as another attempt to destroy Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political party and militia that is a major political force in Lebanon. Israel claims that after the Israeli military began bombing Iran, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel. Now Netanyahu says that if Lebanon wants to stop Israel from carrying out a land invasion, the Lebanese government must itself “disarm Hezbollah,” though this would likely require a civil war.

The Israeli military just fought a war to eliminate Hezbollah less than two years ago, and yet Hezbollah can still supposedly launch missiles into Israel. When asked about this, Netanyahu claimed that before that 2024 war, the group had “the capacity to bring down the skyscrapers of Tel Aviv and cause devastation in central Israel and beyond, with 15,000–20,000 fatalities,” and now it is much weaker. This time, Netanyahu says, the Israeli state is committed to eliminating the militant group altogether.

Of course what Netanyahu claims Hezbollah might have done in Israel is exactly what Israel itself has done in Lebanon.

Israel’s massive bombing campaign killed at least 850 people between March 2 and March 15, and shows no signs of letting up.

The Israeli military also ordered the entire population in the southern half of Lebanon to leave their homes and move north, away from the Israeli border. In reaction, 830,000 people fled. Many went to Beirut, the country’s capitol city—but Israel is also bombing there. Nowhere is safe.

In addition to bombing, on March 13, the New York Times reported that Israel dropped leaflets on Beirut referring to the “remarkable success in Gaza.” This “remarkable success” by Israel amounted to destroying the entire area, killing more than 70,000 people. The survivors have been left to try to eke out a living in the ruins, with almost no food or medical treatment available. This reference to Gaza is a direct threat aimed at the Lebanese population.

Now, Israel is threatening a ground invasion—which would be the seventh Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the last 50 years. During the last one that ended only in January 2025, the Israeli military killed almost 3,000 Lebanese people. It also destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures in southern Lebanon, including homes, mosques, cemeteries, roads, parks, and soccer fields.

Far from keeping the Israeli population safe, these wars fuel the anger and desperation of the Lebanese population. Even if Hezbollah itself is eliminated, the death, destruction, and desperation created by these wars creates an unending stream of potential recruits for groups like Hezbollah. And so the Israeli population is also caught in unending, accelerating war.