Hezbollah’s use of civilian homes sparks evacuation crisis and sectarian strife in Lebanon

In one incident in Beirut’s Christian suburb of Ain El Remmaneh, the Lebanese army was forced to step in when residents refused to accommodate Shiites from the south.

By Baruch Yedid, TPS

Sectarian tensions in Lebanon are soaring as tens of thousands of southern Lebanese residents flee their homes amid Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah.

There have been numerous instances of Sunni and Christian residents in safer areas of the country refusing to host or rent displaced people from predominantly Shi’ite areas.

Many suspect that members of Hezbollah are among the evacuees who would make their villages targets for Israeli intelligence.

In one incident in Beirut’s Christian suburb of Ain El Remmaneh, the Lebanese army was forced to step in when residents refused to accommodate Shiites from the south.

It was only after the army’s intervention that the displaced Shi’ites were evicted from homes they tried to take over.

Hezbollah fears that the mass evacuation from the south will facilitate Israel’s creation of a buffer zone in the region.

Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon — all areas south of the Litani River — in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

On Monday, Israel called on residents of southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley to flee homes where the Iran-backed Hezbollah stored missiles.

The IDF disclosed that Hezbollah was preparing to launch a cruise missile hidden inside a civilian home. The army released footage, including of the airstrike that destroyed it.

Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes.

“Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves,” she said.

“By and large, every third house in the Shi’ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel,” she explained.

More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel were forced to evacuate their homes when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones in October. The Iran-backed terror group has launched more than 9,000 rockets and drones, killing 26 civilians and 22 soldiers on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah leaders have said they will continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes, which Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech on Thursday night.