Lebanon’s latest conflict brings rare public backlash against Hezbollah as war breaks out again

Beirut — A Lebanese mother had woken up to prepare a pre-dawn meal before another day of fasting in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when Israeli warplanes began attacking southern Lebanon in retaliation for rockets and drones fired by Hezbollah.

The family quickly packed up and headed for Beirut for safety from another deadly war between Israel and Hezbollah. With tens of thousands of people fleeing that March 2, what would normally be an hour’s drive from the southern city of Nabatieh took 15 hours.

“I am against giving excuses to Israel,” said the 45-year-old woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from Hezbollah supporters where she lives.

“I completely oppose Hezbollah’s decision to start with the first strike,” said the woman, now sheltered in the Lebanese capital with her husband, their 17- and 12-year-old children and her mother-in-law inside the school.

As Hezbollah enters a new round of fighting with Israel just 15 months after the last Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a November 2024 U.S.-brokered ceasefire, the Iran-backed militant group and political party faces grassroots discontent at its base and problems with Lebanese authorities.

On March 2, two days after Israel and the US launched an attack on Iran, sparking a war in the Middle East, Hezbollah fired missiles and drones into Israel for the first time in more than a year.

Millions of residents of southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut have fled their homes after Israeli warnings that their neighborhoods, towns and villages could be targeted.

The new round of fighting comes as Shia communities, which bore the brunt of the last conflict, are still reeling from it. According to the World Bank, the last Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and caused $11 billion in damages.

As in the past, while many people are afraid to publicly criticize Hezbollah, some Lebanese Shiites are openly blaming the militant group for their current plight, living on the streets, in public squares or with relatives or friends amid cold weather and fasting during Ramadan.

For Hussein Ali, it was the second time in less than two years that he was forced to leave his home in Haret Hreik, a southern suburb of Beirut. During the last Israel-Hezbollah war, the apartment he lived in was destroyed, and now the vegetable seller fears the same will happen again.

“Nobody wanted this war,” said the man, who relies on aid to stay in school and survive. “People have not recovered from the previous war.”

After the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990, militias were required to disarm, but Hezbollah was exempted because it was fighting Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon at the time.

Now the Lebanese government has sought to crack down on the group’s armed wing and end its status as a parallel armed force outside state control.

On March 2, the shift became apparent when the Lebanese government moved to declare Hezbollah’s military activities illegal, with all but two of the 24 cabinet ministers voting in favor; Only two Hezbollah ministers voted no. Ministers from Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal group, a powerful ally of Hezbollah, also voted to approve the measure.

“The government confirms that the decision of war and peace rests solely in the hands of the state,” said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, adding, “The government orders an immediate ban on all military activities of Hezbollah because they are illegal and must force it to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state.”

The Lebanese army has since begun to crack down and last week arrested three Hezbollah members carrying weapons at a checkpoint. But he was released on bail on Monday.

Government officials have repeatedly accused Hezbollah of taking unilateral military actions that should be under state authority. On October 8, 2023, the group began attacking Israel, a day after an attack led by Iran-backed Hamas in southern Israel triggered a war in Gaza.

Now, the group has entered the fray on behalf of Iran to avenge the assassination of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and what it says is retaliation for Israeli violations of the November 2024 ceasefire.

Ali al-Amin, a Lebanese journalist who has been a vocal critic of Hezbollah, said that while some are now more critical of the militant group than ever before, many remain silent, fearing for their safety.

“Criticism can have a high cost and not all people express their views,” said al-Amin, a Shiite Muslim in southern Lebanon, adding that many impoverished Shiites rely on aid that could be cut off at any time from Hezbollah or an allied group.

In the past, people criticizing Hezbollah on social media were sometimes roughed up by its supporters and forced to make new videos saying they were wrong.

But the group still has many supporters. They say Hezbollah’s decision to attack is justified because Israel is not bound by the November 2024 ceasefire.

Since the cease-fire, Israel has continued daily airstrikes against Hezbollah, which have killed nearly 400 people, including dozens of civilians, and prevented the reconstruction of devastated areas.

“We can’t tolerate it anymore,” said Ali Saleh, who moved from a southern village near Nabatieh. “I pray to God to save our youth and make them victorious against Israel.”

A Shia woman who criticized Hezbollah’s move to strike first also said that without the militants, the outcome would have been the same.

“If we attack they will attack us and if we don’t attack they will attack us,” he said.

Sadek Nabulsi, a political science professor at a Lebanese university, said the latest complaints were nothing new and did not represent grassroots support for Iran-allied militants. He said there was a similar outcry during the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in 2024 and the month-long war in 2006.

“Hezbollah’s base of support … is known for enduring pain,” Nabulsi said. “If you look at this support base, despite all the harsh conditions, it’s still cohesive, patient and waiting for salvation.”