The War and Pain in Lebanon

Amid destruction and ruin, as bombs are dropped on Beirut and its suburbs, it is certainly misguided to assume that the Lebanese people, in all their diversity, are keeping quiet about their pain "in solidarity" with Hezbollah. Indeed, this is the last drop that made the cup of sorrow spill over, clearing the fog of the obscured pain engendered by the accumulation of harmful policies.
Lebanon’s pain begins with foreign interference, especially Iran’s interference in the country through Hezbollah, and it is compounded by the domestic crises, shortages, inflation, and the government’s failures, which are the result of both interference and elite failure. This pain precedes the Israeli bombs falling on civilians in Lebanon, as they had in Gaza, under the same pretext: Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran's intervention in Lebanon is explicit. Its proxy, Hezbollah, is openly deployed to serve its interests in regional conflicts. Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker, Mohammad-Bagher, openly said that "Tehran is ready to negotiate with France regarding the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701." His remarks prompted the Lebanese prime Minister to hit back, affirming Lebanon's sovereign right to make its own decisions and characterizing the Iranian official's remark as a blatant attempt to interfere in Lebanon’s affairs that the country unequivocally rejects.
Mikati stated, "Negotiating the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is the prerogative of the Lebanese state, and everyone must support its efforts, not to seek to impose a new form of tutelage that is rejected on all national and sovereign levels."
Mikati’s statements, as the country’s prime minister, are a clear and explicit message affirming Lebanese sovereignty, a move to liberate it from Iran’s control and push back against Iranian interference in Lebanon’s affairs, which had been tasked to Hezbollah in the past.
Mikati's stance has been characterized as courageous, leading some to call for supporting Mikati. They believe that his statement deserves our attention and praise, seeing it as the first step toward building an independent state that rejects the intervention of any country in its affairs.
The opposition of the Lebanese to Hezbollah’s hegemony is evident from the mass protests we had seen in the past in downtown Beirut, which led to clashes around Riad Solh Square. These protests demonstrate that its people do not consent to Lebanon’s transformation into a fiefdom of Hezbollah, Tehran's proxy, nor governmental paralysis and parliamentary failure, nor the neglect of citizens' problems. Hyperinflation, immense inequality, and devastating poverty that has left many hungry define the current moment in Lebanon. This equation needs to be rebalanced; otherwise, the expansion of poverty, hunger, and disease will be wielded into a sword of fury whose attack will not end until all the idols standing in the way of the Lebanese people fall.
The government's failures are clear. They cannot be concealed, particularly its failure to address scarcity, tackle inflation, and curb monetary manipulation that undermines the local currency and embarrasses the government, exposing its utter incapacity.
The reasons for the pain and resentment of the Lebanese are many and varied: widespread corruption, money laundering, and the unjustified immense fortunes of some officials who are not involved in trade or industry, nor come from wealth. Some protesters addressed this clearly: "Look at your deputies and their fortunes; where did they get them from? Where had they been before, and where are they now!?" These grievances drove the angry masses to raise the slogan "Where did you acquire this?" in the face of corrupt figures in Lebanon.
The Lebanese crisis did not begin today, nor is the current beleaguered government to blame. Indeed, it is merely a coalition of ministers from various blocs and parties, most of whom were not chosen by the Prime Minister. Rather, they are appointed through partisan power-sharing, and thus, they represent their parties and their interests, enjoying the authority of a Prime Minister, a minister. Moreover, the blocking third in Lebanon’s parliament had stalled the presidential election for years, to the benefit of Iran.
Lebanon's crisis cannot be summed up in a snapshot; it results from an accumulation of issues. However, it begins with the Hezbollah militia, which considers itself a state within a state. It engages in regional conflicts with fighters in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and it has even intervened and trained militants in Libya.