"This man, Hassan Nasrallah, will not die," claimed Lebanese Hezbollah supporters on Saturday. Many of them are still waiting to see him on television screens, explaining what will happen next. They think that the announcement of his death is a ruse and a tactic designed to confuse the enemy.
It's hard to believe. Yesterday I went for a long walk through Beirut's streets. The city, which always was bustling with life, seemed dead. In the few places where young people still gathered, there was complete hysteria: "This man was killed in his prime, they killed him and humiliated him," claimed Nasrallah's supporters, who were almost the only ones who went out into the street.
A few hours before, Lebanese citizens held a demonstration in Beirut, with dozens of young people standing in the street, holding Lebanese flags and remaining silent. Although they are still afraid of Hezbollah operatives, their goal is to convey a message to the world that "Lebanon will remain Lebanon," with or without the terrorist organization and its leaders who have been eliminated.
It is interesting to discover that the people pointed fingers at Iran and not at Israel. "They abandoned him," they said in Beirut. "Nasrallah was revered in Tehran, (Supreme leader Ali) Khamenei brought him closer, made him an ally, and abandoned him." Khamenei, so the supporters claimed, has a habit of abandoning his allies. First, he abandoned Ismail Haniyeh, then all of Gaza, and now Nasrallah.
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters consider Nasrallah's death an Iranian betrayal. The Shiites in Lebanon, who are not members of my sect, are calling to boycott the Iranian ruler, whose representative was eliminated in the strike in the Dahieh district. On the night of the attack, people in the streets of Beirut were already telling stories about Iran's distance from Nasrallah, about his scorn in the eyes of leader Khamenei. These are stories that no one can confirm nor deny.
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters consider Nasrallah's death an Iranian betrayal
We now know that Hezbollah's actions were completely visible to Israeli intelligence. All his steps were monitored for many months. All the phone calls had another ear listening. A question that disturbs the Lebanese public is: "Who betrayed Hezbollah?"
Conspiracy theories are circulating, with one of them claiming that the Iranians betrayed him to reach a new nuclear agreement with the Americans. According to this theory, the Iranians lied to Nasrallah that the fighting against Israel would not last long but gave him up to the Israelis.
Some believe it was the Syrian intelligence officers who led Israel to Nasrallah. Either way, someone betrayed Hezbollah, and Israel was able to discover the exact location of the organization's leadership. Somehow, Israel managed to discover the location and the participants of the secret meeting.
The echoes of the explosion were felt dozens of kilometers away from the site of the bombing. This explosion reminded me of the mega-explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020 when the whole city shook following the magnitude of the horrific destruction, with hundreds of dead and injured.
Citizens of Israel, think of us, of the innocent citizens of Lebanon. We are not a party to the war. We are suffering.
The Lebanese waited with bated breath for confirmation of the rumors of Nasrallah's assassination. At first, they were sure that this was Israeli propaganda and Hezbollah waited almost a day to make the announcement. In the meantime, refugees from Dahieh found themselves and their families without a roof over their heads, crying, destitute, lost and refusing to believe that this disaster had befallen them.
This situation did not start with Nasrallah's death. On Monday the residents of South Lebanon woke up to the sounds of sirens from the Israeli army bombings, which called them to evacuate their homes immediately. The residents fled, carrying a few belongings, and escaped in cars, creating an endless traffic jam. Their journey from southern Lebanon to Beirut, which usually takes two hours, took 20 long hours.
When they finally arrived in Beirut, they found that no reception centers were waiting for them. There was no emergency plan. The Education Ministry opened makeshift schools, and Beirut residents voluntarily took refugees into their homes. The churches also took in refugees, but the Lebanese government was nowhere in sight to help or mobilize.
Dahieh refused to take refugees at the beginning of the week. Now, when the residents fled in fear, they discovered that the reception centers were already full. Many had to spend the nights in their cars. Others slept by the side of the road, on blankets that they managed to get out of their homes before fleeing. Other refugees spent their days and nights in the Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, forced to reside near the dead buried there.
There are also refugees who chose to flee to areas hostile to Hezbollah, such as the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon. They discovered signs meant to welcome them. However, the refugees were warned not to hang pictures of the hated Nasrallah and to remove his pictures from their cars.
Nasrallah's body recovered from rubble
Citizens of Israel, think of us, of the innocent citizens of Lebanon. We are not a party to the war. We are suffering. Even if some of the food stores are open, no one can afford to buy enough food. Meat has not been on our table for many days. Power outages last at least nine hours a day, and rent has tripled. A house that cost $1,000 two weeks ago has now jumped to $3,000. Two families squeeze into a small two-room apartment.
We were promised a short war, but for almost a year the citizens of Lebanon have not known their fates. Anyone who can afford it, tries to escape or runs away. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese refugees are still sleeping under the stars. They say that Hezbollah is done! So they say. Some argue that this is just a short break before the next stage of the campaign.