Since October 7, 2023, hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have been steadily increasing along Lebanon’s southern border, leaving observers fearful of a potential, all-out war. Those fears have now materialized. Last month, Israel began significantly escalating, through the explosion of hundreds of walkie-talkies and pagers; the use of what were likely 2,000-pound bombs which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, while razing numerous apartment buildings to the ground; strikes on South Lebanon, the Beqaa, and in and around Beirut, among other areas; and a ground invasion into the country. These attacks have had a devastating impact on civilians. People from across Lebanon have been forced to flee their homes, with some counts suggesting that up to 1.2 million may be displaced; at least 2,119 have been killed and 10,019 injured; residential buildings, hospitals, and key roads have been destroyed; and firefighters and first responders have been targeted. The Lebanese government’s capacity to designate shelters, support in evacuations, and provide emergency assistance has been insufficient, particularly with a caretaker government in place. All the while, members of the international community, primarily the United States, have refused to reevaluate the unconditional arms transfers to Israel that are fueling the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, leaving them unable and unwilling to bring about an immediate and lasting ceasefire that centers the sanctity of human life.
On October 17, 2024, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) hosted a virtual event titled, “Israel’s War in Lebanon: Centering Lebanese Perspectives,” featuring TIMEP’s Drew Mikhael, Nadine Kheshen, and Zeead Yaghi, and Mohamad Najem of SMEX, and moderated by Beirut-based journalist Kareem Chehayeb. In a dynamic discussion, panelists discussed key questions: How has Israel’s escalation in Lebanon evolved, what is happening on the ground, and how does it intersect with the political and economic situation in the country? What has been the impact of the war in Lebanon on civilian life and infrastructure? What has the international community’s response been and what must they do to bring an end to this war?
Watch the discussion:
Speaker Profiles:
Nadine Kheshen
Legal Associate, TIMEPNadine Kheshen is a Legal Associate at TIMEP. She is an international criminal and human rights lawyer who has been working on conflict and human rights in the Middle East since 2016. She graduated with a JD from Loyola Marymount Law School, Los Angeles, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada. Since moving to Lebanon in 2019, Nadine’s work with local organizations focused primarily on advancing the rights and treatment of Palestinian and Syrian refugees in the country. She has advised foreign and national stakeholders about the key structural and legal issues affecting refugees and helped build collaboration between local and international NGOs to improve advocacy efforts.
Drew Mikhael
Nonresident Fellow, TIMEPDrew Mikhael is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on migration and displacement across the MENA region. He works with governments, and local and international organizations to develop better peacebuilding practices and aid the inclusion of marginalized groups, primarily displaced in the MENA region and Africa. Some of his clients have included the UK, German, Dutch, and Lebanese governments as well UNHCR, UNDP, EU, and OECD. He holds a PhD in Political Science from Queen’s University Belfast and is a scholar at the School’s Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict. He was previously a post-doc at Durham University, developing policy recommendations to tackle the political exclusion of young people. While Drew regularly publishes peer-reviewed work on the wide nexus of violence and peace, he is deeply committed to making knowledge practical. You can follow him on Twitter: @DrDrewMikhael.
Zeead Yaghi
Nonresident Fellow, TIMEPZeead Yaghi, is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on governance, politics, and economy in Lebanon. He is also the institute’s second Mohamed Aboelgheit Fellow. He also has a PhD in Modern Middle East History from the University of California San Diego. He is the co-founder of Megaphone, a Lebanese independent news platform, as well as a writer and editor with bylines in several American and Arab magazines and journals which can be found at: zeeadyaghi.com. His work is focused on state modernization, planning, and political economy of rural Lebanon, and his research interests include modern Middle Eastern and global histories of planning, development, and architecture. You can follow him on Twitter here: @7_eead.
Mohamad Najem
Executive Director at Social Media Exchange (SMEX)Mohamad Najem is the executive director of the Beirut–based digital rights organization SMEX (smex.org)—the West Asia and North Africa’s leading digital rights organization. His work includes local and regional advocacy campaigns on freedom of expression and privacy. Mohamad organizes the yearly event “Bread & Net”, the first human rights online event in the WANA region. He is bringing civil societies together to challenge digital authoritarianism, also trying to build a movement in Arabic speaking countries to collaborate and bring more human rights approaches to the adoption of technologies in our lives in the WANA region.
Kareem Chehayeb
JournalistKareem Chehayeb is a former Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on transparency and freedom of information in Lebanon and across the region. He is currently a reporter at The Associated Press covering Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. He previously was Al Jazeera English’s Beirut Correspondent and has published work for The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The Intercept, and Middle East Eye.