By: Sofia Chassomeris, News Writer
Since September 23, escalating Israeli airstrikes targeting the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have killed nearly 2,000 people in Lebanon and displaced over one million at the time of writing this article. These attacks, which included the killing of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, indicate the “serious risk” that an all-out war between both countries could be on the horizon.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese armed group with significant political influence in Lebanon. The group was formed in 1982 with Iranian support to combat Israeli invasion and occupation of Southern Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah, who served the group since 1992, led the party into parliamentary politics. Since then, they have grown in size and political power in Lebanon with backing from Iran.
Within the past two months, violence there has significantly increased; the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a “non-profit policy research organization,” reported that this year, “Israel struck Lebanon more than 300 times in the week of September 15 and more than 700 times in the week of September 22.” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that there will be “destruction like Gaza,” referring to Israel’s ongoing genocide in occupied Palestinian territory.
Attacks between Israel and Hezbollah are not a recent development. After the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel retaliated, Hezbollah “launched a rocket campaign on Israel in support of Gaza.”
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, at least 8,313 attacks “were carried out by Israel” between October 2023 and September 2024. Attacks by Israel made up 81% of the attacks exchanged between Israel, Hezbollah, and other armed groups, “which killed at least 752 people in Lebanon.” Conversely, “Hezbollah and other armed groups were responsible for [an additional] 1,901 attacks that killed at least 33 Israelis.”
Daad and Hussein Tabaja, a Lebanese Canadian couple, were both killed by Israeli strikes in Southern Lebanon. “I don’t need to say that this is not humane. This is not humanity. This is not justice,” said their son Jamal Tabaja in a Global News interview. Global News reported that Jamal, who had been living in Beirut, called his parents the night they died to tell them to evacuate, but the couple were not able to make it out.
On September 29, a demonstration in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine was held in Vancouver. Another demonstration at the Vancouver Art Gallery on October 5 was held, where one banner read, “HANDS OFF LEBANON.”
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers, who have their headquarters in Southern Lebanon, said they were struck by explosions twice, injuring two peacekeepers. The explosions occurred close to a UNIFIL observation tower. The UN stated that “any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law.” The Israeli military claimed the peacekeepers were hurt “inadvertently.”
“Israel is essentially now undermining [not only] the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force, but the very rules-based international order, and it needs to step back,” Irish foreign minister Micheál Martin told CBC.
Recent Israeli strikes on Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, have killed at least 22 people and injured 117, including healthcare and rescue workers.
