The ceasefire grants Lebanon a moment of reprieve, though the impact of the devastation will take time to recover from.
CNN’s Nada Bashir reports from Beirut
The Israeli government has said it is targeting fighters and infrastructure belonging to the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah, which has engaged in decades of conflict with Israel. The aim, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is to secure his country’s northern border region. But across Lebanon, civilians are bearing the brunt of the conflict that flared up again when Hezbollah began firing at Israel at the start of the war with Iran.
The Lebanese government, which includes political representatives from Hezbollah, has also moved to put pressure on the group, outlawing its paramilitary wing and ordering the country’s security forces to rid the capital, Beirut, of all non-state arms. Hezbollah officials, however, argue that it, rather than a weak national military, is the only force capable of defending Lebanon against Israeli attacks and a potential occupation in the south.
The Lebanese Health Ministry says more than 2,000 people have been killed — including at least 172 children and 91 healthcare workers — and 7,000 wounded in the space of just six weeks. Israel’s airstrikes have killed and wounded civilians in their homes, at work and even while sheltering at makeshift displacement camps.
