After weeks of war, Israel and Lebanon head toward peace talks
| Beirut
The explosion threw Shaden Fakih from his scooter during his ride home, showering him in debris and broken glass.
Before the dust settled, the recent college graduate and personal fitness trainer picked himself up and ran toward the site of the airstrike less than 50 meters away. He just happened to be driving past at the moment an Israeli munition slammed into a storage warehouse in his neighborhood in central Beirut.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 help the people in the warehouse,鈥� Mr. Fakih explains, standing in front of the smoking pile of twisted rebar and concrete rubble. 鈥淏ut I managed to help people down from the building opposite. There were a lot of injured people, and some couldn鈥檛 walk. We carried everyone down.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have been devastating for Lebanon, where more than a million people are displaced 鈥� and hundreds have been killed. Now, Israel and Lebanon are moving toward possible peace talks.
Mr. Fakih began filming the aftermath of the strike on his phone as he tried to help. The footage shows emergency workers and members of the public scrambling up a pile of rubble and overturned cars as they carry stretchers to those trapped under the debris.
鈥淢y first reaction was to help people,鈥� he says, still shaking two hours later.
People across the Middle East woke up Wednesday morning breathing a little more easily, after the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump about a two-week ceasefire between the United States, Israel, and Iran. The news appeared to mean an imminent halt to weeks of widening war. The price of oil started dropping, and stock markets began to rebound. All sides chalked it up as a victory.
But the people of Lebanon, including the 1 million currently displaced by this conflict, were left out of the deal.
The U.S. and Israel have both said the ceasefire only covered Iran. But the government in Tehran warned that continued Israeli attacks against Hezbollah would derail negotiations with the U.S. set for this Saturday. Pakistan, playing the role of mediator in those negotiations, has also called for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli military said it carried out more than 100 airstrikes across Lebanon during a span of about 10 minutes. More than 300 people were killed in those strikes, with at least 1,150 others wounded, according to Lebanon鈥檚 Ministry of Health.
Israel鈥檚 military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces would seize every opportunity to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon. 鈥淲e will not compromise on the security of the residents of the north [of Israel]. We will continue the strikes without pause,鈥� he said.
On Thursday, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a statement declaring 鈥渁 national day of mourning for the martyrs and wounded of the Israeli attacks that targeted hundreds of innocent, defenseless civilians.鈥� The prime minister also ordered government offices closed and flags lowered in response to the scale of the casualties.
At the same time, Mr. Salam has moved to step up diplomatic pressure, with his office saying he is working 鈥渢o mobilize all of Lebanon鈥檚 political and diplomatic resources to stop the Israeli killing machine.鈥�
This latest chapter of war between Israel and Hezbollah reignited in the early hours of March 2, after the Lebanese Shiite political and militant group fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran鈥檚 supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel fired back with a new wave of strikes across the small Mediterranean nation. Many people here felt that Lebanon was being dragged into a war it did not ask for and can ill afford.
For more than a month, Hezbollah and Israel have been attacking each other. Israel has targeted Lebanon鈥檚 villages, cities, and infrastructure with air, drone, and artillery strikes, while Hezbollah continued to fire rockets at military sites and towns in northern Israel.
Israel鈥檚 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Lebanon was not included in the two-week ceasefire with Iran. But on Thursday, the prime minister said he ordered the Israeli Cabinet to open direct talks with Lebanon鈥檚 government, aimed at disarming Hezbollah and establishing 鈥減eace relations鈥� between the two countries.
鈥淚n light of Lebanon鈥檚 repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible,鈥� said a statement from the Israeli prime minister鈥檚 office.
Earlier on Thursday, Lebanon鈥檚 President Joseph Aoun said that a ceasefire with Israel, followed by 鈥渄irect negotiations,鈥� was the 鈥渙nly solution鈥� to the conflict. He also lauded Lebanon鈥檚 security forces for maintaining order under 鈥渄ifficult circumstances.鈥�
Since the fighting between the two sides restarted in early March, Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,700 people in Lebanon and wounded nearly 6,000, according to news reports. In the same period, Hezbollah rocket fire has killed two Israeli civilians.
The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs and large parts of southern Lebanon, both home to members of the Shiite Muslim community and areas where support for Hezbollah is strong. Israel has also sent troops across its northern border into southern Lebanon.
In the past several weeks, the number of those forced from their homes constitutes roughly one-fifth of the population of the country, in a territory less than half the size of the state of Massachusetts.
Sitting in the faculty of information sciences at the Lebanese University, one of many schools and universities turned into makeshift shelters in Beirut, Fatima Aqil Hayek says this is the third time her family of five has had to leave home in the past 20 years because of war with Israel. The first time was in 2006; the most recent was in 2024.
鈥淚t feels different to 2024. It鈥檚 harder now, as there is more damage and we鈥檙e suffering more,鈥� she says, sitting at a small wooden school desk in a corridor, surrounded by members of her extended family. 鈥淲e鈥檙e terrified we鈥檙e going to die, but we try our best to stay calm.鈥�
As if on cue, a door to a nearby classroom slams shut, causing Ms. Hayek and the women around her to jump before putting their hands to their hearts. 鈥淲hen we hear the strikes, we freak out. It鈥檚 as if they are next to us. The children get scared, and so do we.鈥�
For many in Lebanon, nowhere feels safe. Once confined to the capital鈥檚 southern suburbs, the scope of the Israeli airstrikes has widened to much of the capital, and a tense atmosphere has engulfed the city.
鈥淲e are so tired,鈥� the mother of three says. 鈥淎ll of this is so tiring.鈥�
Editor鈥檚 note: This file, originally published April 9, was updated to add the byline, contributor Oliver Marsden.
