Alwaght- Amid blood and smoke, southern Lebanon has returned to be a flash point afresh. Eight months have gone since the February ceasefire with Israel, but the silence of the guns has prevailed only on the paper. The Israeli fighter jets still fly rampant in the Lebanese sky, leaving the people in the border areas every night facing a new nightmare.
According to the Lebanese ministry of health, in the recent Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, four civilians were killed— the latest case of violation of the truce.
The health ministry reported that since the ceasefire, over 270 were killed by Israeli military attacks and 850 others were injured. Up to October 9, the UN Human rights office in Lebanon has confirmed that 107 of those killed were civilians,said the ministry. Only in last month, at least 9 were killed by Israeli air raids.
In one of these strikes, an Israeli attack on Bint Jbeil killed three children from a single family, including 18-month-old twins.
Days later, the regime's warplanes targeted a cement factory and a stone quarry, claiming Hezbollah intended to use the site to rebuild its infrastructure. This move highlighted Tel Aviv's broader strategy: to destroy Lebanon's essential infrastructure and replicate the Gaza scenario here.
The violations of the truce, however, have not been limited to airstrikes. As stated by UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel, from November 27, 2024, until mid-October, approximately 950 projectiles fired from Israel into Lebanon have also been recorded.
Fire under the ashes
In the capital, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are leaning on their chairs in hope of the so-called peace deals that are only on the negotiating table. They had promised people that the key to ending the challenges the country is grappling with lies with disarming Hezbollah and forsaking the resistance to enemy. But today, there is no security, no economic recovery, and no meaningful government action to accelerate the rebuilding of what the war destroyed. This comprehensive failure, and the public's growing disillusionment with the new government's ability to deliver on its promises, has forced Salam, a seasoned politician who has now become a hardline opponent of Hezbollah, into a stark admission. In his latest remarks, a visibly strained Salam admitted: "Opening diplomatic and political channels to force Israel to adhere to the agreement has been futile."
Admitting to failure
These remarks are actually an admission of the failure of the strategy of the Lebanese government that was promoted by the US and its allies. Washington promised that doors of welfare will be reopened to Lebanon if the government pressed Hezbollah and Lebanon quitted the strategy of resistance. But the reality is that not only has not Israel adhered to the ceasefire, but also it has refused to withdraw from 5 positions in southern Lebanon it kept after truce was signed.
Salam's remarks reveal a bitter truth: "Israel has not adhered to the cessation of hostilities agreement, while Lebanon has undertaken no military action against it in return." This means that by sidelining Hezbollah , Lebanon has effectively disarmed itself in the face of the enemy's aggression.
According to a report by the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, from February to October 2025, over 28 airstrikes by the Israeli regime were documented in Lebanon's south. Israeli forces still occupy 5 positions along the southern border and have not withdrawn from areas near the villages of Rmeish, Yaroun, and Aita al-Shaab. Furthermore, Israeli drones conduct daily flights over Nabatieh and Marjaayoun, a blatant violation of Lebanese air sovereignty.
Old plot in new face
More surprisingly, Salam, despite his admission that diplomacy with Tel Aviv was in vain, insists on the fulfillment of the US and Israeli demand for disarming Hezbollah to put the country at the mercy of a treacherous enemy. By providing a list of forces authorized to carry arms, he insists on the same failed discourse the Lebanese people are seeng its outcomes.
In this regard, Al-Akhbar newspaper warned that the government, without the support of Hezbollah, is helpless in the face of the Israeli violations. The newspaper adds, the submissive discourse, is a failed approach.
This comes as Lebanon faces three essential cases in regard to the Israeli regime:
First, the border disputes are not settled yet and the Israeli regime has not withdrawn from southern Lebanon yet.
Second, the dispute over Karish gas field in the Mediterranean continues and Tel Aviv is pressing ahead with its drilling in the disputed gas field.
Third, Tel Aviv has a long-time strategy to weaken neighboring countries through continued attacks and penetration.
Resistance, the only shield against aggression
In this situation, the weapons of Hezbollah and its allies are not a choice, but the only practical means of defending Lebanon's sovereignty and interests. History has proven that Arab and Western nations have not only failed to curb the Israeli regime's expansionism but have, at times, covertly enabled it.
Today, all signs indicate that the conditions are ripe for Hezbollah's return to military confrontation and the re-establishment of a deterrence equation. Internal, regional, and international developments all point to one conclusion: the lull is over, and a decisive response from the resistance to the enemy's aggressions is imminent.
First and foremost, the Lebanese people now clearly see that the discourse of compromise has not only been futile but has also undermined Lebanon's position against Israel as its archenemy.
Al-Diyar, a Lebanese newspaper, reported on Thursday, citing a security source, that "Hezbollah has decided to respond directly to any Israeli ground incursion" and anticipates an imminent escalation by Israel.
The source further confirmed to Al-Diyar that Hezbollah is "now, for many reasons, stronger than it was before the 2024 aggression." It stated, "Israel's points of infiltration have been sealed. Israel does not know the new leadership and is unable to target them. The clearest proof is that all the assassinations it carries out target party members, but never its leaders."
Mohammad Fenish, a Hezbollah political member, told AP last month that this resistance movement has largely limited itself to demands from the Lebanese government to pressure Israel using its political and diplomatic or other potentials.
He added: "In case things escalate, the resistance leaders are watching the situation and they keep all options open."
In fact, Hezbollah has proven it is the only force capable of protecting the country's sovereignty against Israeli aggression and today its vital role is highlighted to public more than any other time in the country's military equations.
As the sun rises from behind the Lebanese mountains, Hezbollah is preparing for a new rise and a response to violations of licentious Israeli enemy, this time not as a choice but as the only option to defend Lebanon's dignity and sovereignty.
