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Lebanon is at war again. Iran-backed Hezbollah, after a year of no attacks despite almost daily Israeli strikes, attacked Israel following the killing of Iran's supreme leader. Israel has now sent troops across the border and is bombing the Lebanese capital. That's as Lebanon's government demands that Hezbollah disarm. NPR's Jane Arraf and Jawad Rizkallah have this report.
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JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: People sleeping on the street in Beirut are just the most visible sign of a country in danger of fragmenting. On Beirut's Mediterranean seaside, displaced families fleeing Israeli attacks in south Lebanon and the capital's southern suburbs stretch out under blankets on the sidewalk.
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ARRAF: Lebanon and Israel signed a ceasefire more than a year ago, aimed at ending a conflict that started with the Gaza war. Although Israel has launched regular attacks over the past year, Iran-backed Hezbollah has not. That changed on Saturday. In response, Israel has been pounding border areas in the south and a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut suburbs since. Khaled Jaber, a retired chef, fled to Beirut with his wife and four children from his village in south Lebanon. As Israeli drones hover overhead, he tells producer Jawad Rizkallah there were so many people trying to leave, what is normally a three-hour drive took 24 hours.
KHALED JABER: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: "Why should I sleep on the street? I have children," he says. They can't afford a hotel, and there was no room at the shelters in Beirut. He says even the nearby mosque was locked. Jaber, who's 65, says this is the fifth time he's been displaced since Lebanon's civil war in 1979. He blames the Lebanese state for not taking care of its people and, he says, for exhibiting such neglect that nonstate groups took up arms.
Israel on Tuesday sent soldiers across the border into Lebanon, it said to provide security for villagers in northern Israel. Lebanese village leaders reached by phone said almost all residents fled after Israel warned them Saturday to leave. Hussein Al Rahi said his village of Al Smaiy'a was now essentially empty.
HUSSEIN AL RAHI: (Through interpreter) Those who couldn't leave, who have no strength, no one, no car, no money, they stayed.
ARRAF: Lebanon is in an even more dangerous position than it was during the war with Israel two years ago. The Lebanese government has agreed to U.S. demands to disarm Hezbollah, which is not just a powerful militant group but a political party. But the government doesn't have the power to enforce a ban. It pledged to arrest Hezbollah fighters responsible for attacks on Israel. Lebanon's Al Jadeed television read a statement from former Hezbollah minister Mahmoud Qamati.
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UNIDENTIFIED NEWS REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: "Israel wanted an open war since the ceasefire," he said. "Then let it be an open war." The Lebanese army, also in a difficult position, pulled back from border areas Tuesday as Israeli forces advanced into Lebanon. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Amman.
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