“We will not allow the country to be dragged into new adventures. We will take every necessary measure to apprehend the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese,” Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed at dawn on Monday in response to Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into a new “support war.” This time, Hezbollah is intervening on behalf of the Iranian regime. Salam described the rocket launches as a “reckless and dubious act that undermines Lebanon’s security and safety and provides Israel with pretexts to continue its assaults.”
This position, even if it did not explicitly name Hezbollah as the perpetrator, requires concrete action. Limiting bloodshed is the ultimate priority; the era of Lebanon being a theater for Israel and Iran’s wars must end. It has harmed the people, destroyed its infrastructure, and threatened the very existence of the state.
In defiance of the authorities, Hezbollah launched three rockets and a drone from the Sarafand area between Sidon and Tyre in southern Lebanon, in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel retaliated with around 30 airstrikes targeting towns in the South and the Bekaa Valley, and it pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs with 15 strikes, many in Jnah on the administrative outskirts of Beirut, targeting party centers and leadership figures. Israel followed its strikes with mass evacuation orders to residents of 53 towns in the South and Bekaa. Israel has unleashed hell on Lebanon.
At this moment, the executive authorities have no choice but to take unconventional measures that would be taken by any normal state. The sight of endless cars fleeing the inferno of the towns under attack is painful, as is the image of residents hastily leaving their homes in the southern suburbs and taking shelter in dozens of public schools in Beirut.
All of this is the result of a treacherous approach developed by “the party” and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Taking orders from Tehran, they paid no mind to Lebanon’s fate and the lives of its people in pursuit of its reckless adventures. Through the “Sarafand rockets,” it has effectively decided to annex the entire area south of the Awali River to the south of the Litani - to allow the Israeli enemy to expand its occupation and depopulate a buffer zone.
What is required, then, are tangible decisions to prevent the rivers of blood and safeguard the country, defending the country against existential threats beginning to encircle it. Urgent and exceptional measures must begin with dissolving this militia, dismantling its structure, summoning Hezbollah officials - military, security, and political - before the judiciary and issuing arrest warrants against the group of Iranian advisers who lead this militia.
It is worth recalling that after the deadly blows the party sustained during the disastrous “support war” for Gaza, IRGC commanders intervened directly and entered the “command and control” of the paramilitary group tied to Iran’s Quds Force. At the time, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered IRGC Commander Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh to assume temporary leadership of Hezbollah. It is therefore time to place national interests and the protection of Lebanese lives above all other considerations.
In a normal state, Hezbollah’s two ministers would be dismissed. It is no longer acceptable for the party to remain part of the executive after it had approved a ministerial statement that committed to a defensive political and diplomatic posture; its mercenary activities have once again summoned occupation. On the other hand, it cannot be allowed to unilaterally drag Lebanon into catastrophe yet again.
The time has come to launch a broad judicial sweep to hold this party’s Lebanese leadership fully financially responsible for dragging Lebanon into two devastating wars within two decades. In defending national interests and the people’s right to a safe and stable life, there is no alternative to asserting legitimate authority against outlaws.
There must also be a clear timeline for confining armament across Lebanon, in the hope that such measures could restore the relations severed by Hezbollah with Lebanon’s Arab brethren and friends, for in those relations are Lebanon’s cards in confronting the arrogance and ambitions of the occupier.
A new era has begun in the region. It began on September 27, 2024, with the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah; it was followed on December 8, 2024, by the fall of the Syrian regime; and it culminated on February 28, 2026, with the elimination of Khamenei, to say nothing about the fate of Hamas. It is an era of sharp polarization and historic turns that will shape policy, elevate new elites, and redraw maps of influence and alliances. It is a new era that demands a diligent approach and positive neutrality, allowing us to cut our losses and safeguard Lebanon’s land and its existence.
The authorities, indeed the entire political establishment, have no choice but to engage in genuine efforts aimed at rescuing the country, its people, and all who reside on its soil. It cannot continue to cover for destructive adventures that serve a foreign agenda whose national legitimacy expired long ago. There is no time to waste. Every delay in taking a bold initiative threatens our existence.
