in Lebanon, anti-Nasrallah denounce Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel

In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s entry into the war is strongly criticized by Hassan Nasrallah’s opponents.

It has been a week, Friday October 4, since Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut. A week later, his funeral has still not taken place and the Shiite militia is providing no information. In the meantime, anger is growing among anti-Nasrallah people, particularly among Christians. He accuses Hezbollah of having dragged them into the war against Israel.

Those who denounce Hezbollah and its former leader are found mainly in Christian neighborhoods, such as in the bourgeois town of Joubnieh, just north of the Lebanese capital. Here, the feeling is unanimous. A year ago, after the attacks of October 7, Hassan Nasrallah should never have supported Palestinian Hamas by launching the first rockets against the Jewish state.

“I hate Hassan Nasrallah, I hate this man. From the beginning, this is not our war. I am against Hezbollah’s decision to go to war. It was a very bad strategy. The proof… They are losing” , denounces this owner of a holiday village in the Bekaa plain, now bombed. He’s also worried about his business and he’s not the only one. This woman works in a company in Beirut but now refuses to go there for fear of Israeli strikes in the capital: “I’m afraid for my family, we’re afraid for our future. We don’t want to be another Gaza in Lebanon.”

“We feel sorry for the Palestinians, we want them to be at peace too, but we don’t want to defend them in our country. Let them go and defend them there.”

A Lebanese woman

at franceinfo

All these inhabitants, Christians, feel trapped in this conflict. Worse still, some fear that the old demons of Lebanon will resurface in this country with 18 different faiths and very divided communities: “I am angry because once again, we are embarking we don’t know where and without being able to see the end.”

And one of the likely outcomes: “A civil war, againassures this woman. Nobody has learned anything from everything that happened in Lebanon. Everything can start again at any time.”she concludes.

There have been a few incidents in recent days, but very rare. Solidarity between communities still works, Christian villages in the south of the country welcome displaced Shiites. But the army is vigilant. Since Nasrallah’s death, she calls on citizens “not to allow oneself to be drawn into actions which could harm civil peace.”