Lebanon has become Gaza…

The fear that has haunted us for a year, as we watched Israel’s massacres and acts of genocide against Gaza and its people, has now become our reality here in Lebanon. It’s all around us, something we see, live, and breathe—among our families, our friends, and from the balconies of our homes.

It was clear that Israel broke every red line in Gaza, facing no deterrent for its atrocities and no accountability, only more money and weapons from the U.S. And yet, despite all of this, we in Lebanon were led into this unequal war under the banner of “support.” No will is above that of the Supreme Leader, who has enshrined the “unity of fronts” doctrine, placing responsibility on parties like Hezbollah and the Houthis. Meanwhile, Tehran responds with calculated, limited actions, avoiding fully opening fronts. It is up to the Palestinians, Lebanese, and Yemenis to fight to the last drop of their blood and the last stone of their lands.

The world is complicit, complacent, and biased toward Israel—a truth we know all too well, one Gaza has experienced in the harshest of ways. This truth must be declared boldly to the West: its leaders, its media, its opinion-makers. But confronting the West does not negate the need for our own internal debate. Our discussions cannot be silenced under the pretext of confronting Western betrayal.

Today, after a long period of denial, some of our officials in Beirut have begun reluctantly and hesitantly discussing a ceasefire and the implementation of Resolution 1701, as well as separating Lebanon’s path from Gaza’s. But the response came from Tehran. In his latest sermon, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged more “resistance,” while our country is being ravaged and the leaders and fighters of his strongest party, Hezbollah, are being killed in the most brutal ways. His foreign minister followed up, informing our government and its president that there will be no separation of fronts, despite the widespread death and destruction.

Do you remember the “unity of fronts”? Today, we are witnessing a parallel concept: the “unity of arenas.”

Support is our responsibility, but when we become the victim of that support, there is no Iranian assistance for us. Instead, we are left with more religious slogans and promises of a better world in the hereafter.

Lebanon now stands without serious political leadership, after Hezbollah spent years undermining it. They obstructed every path that could have produced a government unwilling to accept their weapons, and now, along with Hezbollah, we are all paying a heavy price.

Israel’s barbarism ravages our cities and villages, displacing thousands, annihilating families, destroying homes and towns, and targeting rescue teams. On top of this, Israel is taking out Hezbollah’s leadership, its fighters, in a bloodlust with no bounds.

How did we find ourselves in the midst of an Israeli war of extermination against Hezbollah and Lebanon? And what political leadership can attempt to stop our slide into the abyss? These questions are dismissed by those cheering the opening of more fronts and the unity of arenas. Anyone raising such questions is branded a traitor, worthy of scorn.

In the midst of this hell, there are those who chastise us, saying that now is not the time to discuss how we were dragged into this war or to reflect on the uncertain future. We are told that we must either support the “resistance,” whose fighters are valiantly battling on the borders, or we are defeatists and conspirators.

This debate is not a sign of weakness but an attempt to protect what remains of our country. The theory of “deterrence” and the claim that Hezbollah’s weapons protect Lebanon are no longer defensible. On the contrary, it has become clear that even a fragmented and weakened Lebanon is more capable of protecting Hezbollah and its environment than the party itself is of defending the country or its own community.

Facing this reality is not defeatism, nor is it alignment with Israel, which is showing an insatiable appetite for destruction and death. The question is an attempt to limit the defeat, stop the rising death toll, and think about the future of this country—its identity—after all this devastation.

There are no miracles awaiting us, and the border clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces—no matter how much courage and valor Hezbollah’s fighters show—will not be enough on their own to repel Israel. Not with the massive imbalance in power and the limitless military support Israel receives from the U.S.

Iranian leaders once told us that Tehran could annihilate Israel in seven and a half minutes if it dared to target the “axis.” Yet, a full year has passed, and all we’ve heard are empty claims of victory, much like the speeches of Saddam Hussein’s Information Minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who boasted of victories and the defeat of the “American invaders” even as his country was falling apart.

We’ve been plagued by many “al-Sahhafs” who, like former Iraqi Minister of Information Mohammed al-Sahhaf, fill our airwaves with declarations of glorious triumphs. Tens of thousands are fleeing death, not knowing how long they will remain in displacement or what has happened to their homes or what will become of their lives. It is as if civilians and their losses are not at the core of politics, which is supposed to answer how and why thousands of our people have been displaced.

The language of politics has collapsed, overtaken by fanaticism and gloating, or, at best, by denial and the invention of false heroics. This is precisely the dilemma of the fragmented debates between those who were, at least, partners in the 2019 protests, standing together under the slogan “All of them means all of them.”

Today, activists, academics, and professionals in human rights and journalism are making definitive statements: we are either with the resistance against Israeli barbarism, or we are cowards aligned with the axis of extermination. It’s true that these debates have no real impact. They mostly take place within circles of friends and acquaintances who exchange blame and engage in heated debates on social media. Even when tempers flare and insults are exchanged, these discussions remain far removed from any broader public stance that could translate into meaningful pressure.

Still, despite everything, the fervor for public shaming and accusations of betrayal rivals even the heat of battle. Some have gone as far as publicly naming individuals, warning them that they will be held accountable once the war ends.

These individuals avoid discussing the human cost, which is only raised to condemn Israeli brutality. They neglect to question the responsibility of those who declare war without considering the condition of their own community, the extent of their losses, and the suffering they endure at the hands of the Israeli aggressor.

Is dignity really found in continuing the fight, no matter the cost in human lives, the displacement of people, the destruction of homes, and the burning of lands?

Defeat is ugly and harsh, and it comes at a high cost for those who declare it. But what kind of victory are we witnessing today in Gaza or Lebanon?

Some say that our discussions and opinions hold no value amid what is happening. Maybe that is the case.

But this is precisely the time for honest debate, not a time for caution or avoidance. Perhaps these opinions won’t end the war, but at the very least, they are an attempt to avoid participating in the deception being reshaped once again, at the expense of those who have died and their souls.