Why the US-Israel war with Iran spread to Lebanon | Global News Podcast

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway, and this is. the Global News podcast on YouTube. And. today, we're looking at the impact of. Israeli attacks on Lebanon and their. effect on the US-Israeli war on Iran. We're joined from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, by our correspondent, Lina. Sinjab. And Lina, first of all, why is. Israel attacking Lebanon? Well, since Israel, you know, crippled. Hezbollah in in 2024, there was a ceasefire, but throughout.

the past 15 months since this ceasefire, Israel continued to target various. Hezbollah locations, targeted attacks. against personnel or. arms depot. But since the preparation. for the war on Iran, Israel made it. clear if Hezbollah gets involved in this. war and start, you know, launching. rockets. against Israel, it's going to be. a big response, a fierce response. And.

despite all diplomatic efforts and. pressure on Hezbollah. not to get involved, they did the early. hours of Monday morning. That's almost, you know, 4 days ago, they did launch. rockets into Israel, which prompted. Israel's, you know, attack on Lebanon on. Dahieh, which is here in the suburb of. Beirut, the southern suburb of Beirut, but also in the south of the country, >> [snorts]. >> closer to the border on the Bekaa. Valley. There were some attacks that were came.

with warning, other attacks came without. warning. There are people killed and, you know, internally displaced who had. to flee their homes, flee their towns. and villages, and seek refuge in. shelters or stranded in the streets. Yeah, and before we look at the impact. in more detail, we should remind people. that Hezbollah attacked Israel because. it's an ally of Iran. Well, Hezbollah. was established in 1980s.

during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. And since then, it was established, trained, and funded by Iran. It sought. alliance to the supreme leaders of Iran. They've always worked in in close. coordination with the Iranians. Many. Lebanese argue that they even acted in. accordance to orders by the Iranians. And if you look back at the region in. the past, you know, decade, Hezbollah. got involved in the war in Syria.

fighting with Assad and the Iranians. against the opposition. Hezbollah got. involved in Yemen also training the. the Shia militia affiliated to Iran. there and fighting with them. And. they're also part of the Shia militias. in Iraq. So, Iran is using Hezbollah as. its proxy group fighting its own battles. on different fronts in the region. Many. Lebanese feel frustrated because it's. only backlashing at the country and at.

the people. The country hasn't even woken up yet. from the 2024 war. Most of the areas. that have been attacked still remain in. rubbles and people don't have the money. or the means to rebuild them. Yet, Hezbollah. took the decision on a sole basis to. attack Israel again, prompting even more. war on Lebanon. You mentioned people. killed in these latest attacks by.

Israel. Others trying to get out the. way. Where are those fleeing to? Is. there anywhere that is safe in Lebanon? Well, when Israel gave the orders of. evacuation of in the entire neighborhood. of Dahiyeh. And mind you, Dahiyeh. like in the suburb of Beirut, the. southern suburb of Beirut, there are. hundreds of thousands living there. The. estimated number is like around three. 300,000 living there. They all They give them the route to. head north, to take the highway towards.

the north, but you also have those who. are by the border in with Israel. Also, Israel gave. orders of evacuation 10 km within. the the Lebanese borders. That's. reaching the city of Tyre. There are. 250,000. people that have to evacuate and leave. And what is the impact of all this on. the wider Middle East and the US-Israeli. war on Iran? Is it having an effect?

Well, Lebanon is a small country with. really very weak economy, and Hezbollah. is only just. posing a threat to Israel, but really. doesn't have the power or the weapons to. cause any damage. The Israelis have. attacked Hezbollah big time in 2024 war. They've eliminated its top commanders. They've destroyed most of its. weapons, and you know, um. rockets. They still have some, and.

that's why we see that they're still. firing some rockets into Israel, but you. can't compare, you know, an armed group. with an established army that has the. best technologies. And the problem is. this violation that Hezbollah is doing. towards a country that has the best and. the most powerful army in the region is. only, you know, damaging the country and. the community surrounding Hezbollah. These are the ones who are losing their. homes, they're losing their businesses,

they're being forced to flee for the. second time in almost, you know, 15. months. without any idea where when to come back. to to their, you know, homes. Lebanon. already has its own financial crisis and. banking crisis. They don't have the. money to rebuild or reconstruct those. destroyed areas. So, it's really in the. hand of one group that is affiliated to. Iran. For many in Lebanon, they say that. they're taking orders from Iran. And, you know, the all Lebanese people are.

the ones paying the price. So, where is. the Lebanese government in all this? Can. it do anything to stop Hezbollah? Can it. do anything to help the people who've. been affected? They're trying to work on. the logistics of providing shelters, providing some sort of like emergency. aid, but the issue is bigger than this. I mean, even they've announced, you. know, from day one that they've. condemned this attack by Hezbollah, but. you know, Hezbollah's military and you. know, security activities should be banned,

but this is not enough because even with. this statement, Hezbollah still went. ahead and continued firing rockets. The. leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, came. out on a televised speech basically. saying this is a legitimate fight. against Israel and that Israel is. violating all the, you know, the. ceasefire deal, which is now there is no. more ceasefire. Many people argue that Hezbollah should. be completely banned as a group and that. the army should be in charge of the. south so that to protect the civilians.

and also to make sure that no. violations, no rockets are fired against. Israel. There are also worries that the. army will be in clashes with Hezbollah, which will prompt an internal conflict, but I think we've reached the point here. in Lebanon that there is no way to. continue with one armed group taking the. fate of the whole country and dragging. it into war. without, you know, bearing the. consequences of of this war. But, how.

could they be stopped given that they. are so powerful? Are they perhaps losing. support from people in their own areas. after they are the ones who are getting. hit? Yeah, definitely they're losing that. support. I mean, of course there are. still those who are supporting them. And. certainly those who are supporting them. are part of them who are firing these. rockets, but I think the basin of their. support, the community around them is. fed up with this war, is fed up with. keeping the ones keeping being. losing, you know, a war after war and.

losing, you know, everything in their. lives. And finally, a thought for the. the Lebanese people. They obviously went. through that war in in 2024, then a bit. of a lull, although still some continued. attacks. How are they feeling now? It's really prompting a lot of anger and. and frustration and. even among those who are part of the. Hezbollah community. One person was. mentioning that his grandmother like ran. away from the war and then his mother. ran away from the war and now he is.

running away from the war with his. children. So, it's not something new. It's generation after generation. I. think this country has been through a. lot of wars, economic problems, and. people are, you know, they just want to. live normally. They just want to send. their kids to school normally. They want. to wake up and think about what to have. for breakfast, what to have for lunch, what to have for dinner, rather than. thinking where to escape and where which. area is going to be hit after. So, I. think, you know, people are fed up with.

everything and they just want peace. They want stability and they want to. live a normal life and that's what. they're asking their government to do. Lina, thank you. Lina Sinjab, our. correspondent in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. If you liked this episode, please subscribe here on YouTube. If. there's any story you'd like us to. cover, then leave a comment below. And. for more international news, download. the Global News Podcast wherever you get. your BBC podcasts.