On Monday, March 2, 2026, Lebanon got pulled into a regional war that many in the country had hoped to avoid. The impact on the ground has been devastating.
Since the November 2024 ceasefire and prior to this latest escalation, Israel had been conducting near-daily military strikes on South Lebanon and the Beqaa in the country’s east. When the United States and Israel launched a massive military operation targeting Iran on February 28, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated. In a self-described act of retaliation for Khamenei’s killing, Hezbollah launched a rocket and drone attack against a military site in Haifa. This marked the first time that Hezbollah had attacked Israel since the 2024 ceasefire. Israel has since responded with sweeping airstrikes in South Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the Beqaa, while Hezbollah has launched new rounds of rockets into Israel. Israeli troops are also advancing further in Lebanese territory, and they continue their strikes; they have also issued evacuation notices to all of Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs and Lebanon’s south. As of March 10, nearly 760,000 have been displaced from their homes in Lebanon; 570 people have been killed, and 1,444 have been wounded. Meanwhile, the Lebanese government has announced a ban on all security and military activities by Hezbollah, deeming them illegal and directing military and security agencies to take enforcement actions and make arrests; instructed the Lebanese army to implement the next phase of the disarmament plan; and urgently called upon international partners to help stop Israeli attacks and bring about an immediate cessation of hostilities.
To understand these unfolding developments and contextualize them in a people-centric understanding, join the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) on Tuesday, March 17, from 9:30 am to 11:00 am EST for “The Regional War Lebanon Hoped to Avoid: Unpacking the Escalation,” an online moderated discussion featuring Jad El Dilati, Justin Salhani, Jean Kassir, and Jasmin Lilian Diab, moderated by Nadine Kheshen. Speakers will address key questions: How has the escalation evolved and what has been the impact on civilians on the ground? How has the Lebanese government responded and how do we expect it to position itself going forward? And what role must other governments play to bring an urgent end to this already-devastating war?
Watch the discussion:
Speaker profiles:
Jad El Dilati
Jad El Dilati is TIMEP’s tenth Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow, where his mandate focuses on governance, politics, and narrative in Lebanon. Jad is a governance and human rights practitioner focused on civic space, minority inclusion, and accountability in Lebanon and the MENA region. As MENA Program Coordinator at Minority Rights Group, he has overseen regional initiatives that empower local organizations to advocate for minority rights and participate meaningfully in policymaking and governance processes. His work has spanned Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Palestine, and Syria, where he has strengthened cross-country networks of civil society actors to promote accountability, build partnerships, and influence policy. Earlier in his career, he led research at the Samir Kassir Foundation on violations against journalists, hate speech, and disinformation, and worked to advance media freedom and safer digital spaces in the Levant. Alongside his programmatic work, Jad has written on topics including conflict, state policies, digital spaces, and the lived experiences of marginalized communities in Lebanon.
Justin Salhani
Justin Salhani is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on misinformation and disinformation in the Levant. He is a writer and journalist based in Beirut. Since 2023, Justin has been a senior producer with Al Jazeera Digital, where he covers politics and society in Lebanon and Syria. He has been covering the region since 2011 and has reported from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, France, Italy, and the United States. Justin has also contributed to Time Magazine and Dial Magazine and is a regular contributor to the From the Periphery Media Collective’s podcast series. His media appearances include Al Jazeera, BBC, CBC, France 24, Times of London radio, among others. Justin was previously based in Washington, DC, Paris, and Milan.
Jasmin Lilian Diab
Dr. Jasmin Lilian Diab is a Senior Inclusive Economies Associate at TIMEP, focusing on migration. She is the director of the Institute for Migration Studies (IMS) at the Lebanese American University (LAU), where she also serves as an assistant professor and coordinator of migration studies at the Department of Communication, Mobility and Identity. She is also a research affiliate at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, a global fellow at Brown University’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, and a visiting professor in migration studies at Sciences Po Lyon. Beyond her academic roles, Dr. Diab brings extensive expertise to the migration and development space through service on advisory boards and through the completion of over 100 consultancies for UN agencies, international humanitarian organizations, and governments. Her work has involved evaluating humanitarian programming, leading research in conflict settings, conducting gender analyses, and developing strategic plans for organizations supporting displaced populations and operating in hard-to-reach areas across Lebanon and the broader Middle East.
Jean Kassir
Jean Kassir is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on governance, politics, and economy in Lebanon. He is also the institute’s 2025-2026 Mohamed Aboelgheit Fellow. He is a political organizer and media professional, and the cofounder and managing director of Megaphone, a Beirut-based independent digital media outlet whose critical journalism highlights issues impacting marginalized communities, including gender-based violence, economic inequality, racism, and environmental crimes. Megaphone provides alternative political coverage for young Arab audiences who feel alienated by partisan mainstream media and are eager to engage with independent, uncompromising reporting. Since 2011, Jean has been active in several political campaigns and collectives that offer an alternate path for Lebanon in response to decades of status quo, such as Mada Network and Beirut Madinati, which sought to reclaim Beirut’s municipal council. In addition to his role at Megaphone, Jean has worked at Amnesty International on campaigns protecting individuals at risk across the MENA region. He also worked at the Carnegie Middle East Center where he focused on refugee rights and contentious politics in Lebanon and Jordan.
Nadine Kheshen
ModeratorNadine 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. 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.