Photo- Smoke billows after Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Friday, March 6, 2026 . The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon this week has risen to at least 123 people ( mostly civilians) , the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health says, as a new wave of strikes pounded the country[Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
Target the militants and their Iranian handlers — not the innocent Shiite community that has already paid the highest price
By : Ya Libnan Editorial Board, Opinion
Several dozen officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly fled Beirut over the past 48 hours, fearing they would be targeted, according to sources cited by Axios.
This raises an obvious question: if Israel knew these Iranian operatives were in Beirut, why were they allowed to escape?
Everyone knows that Iran is the real problem in Lebanon — not the innocent Shiite civilians who have repeatedly paid the price for decisions imposed on them. Lebanon’s Shiite community has been betrayed by leaders who placed loyalty to Tehran above loyalty to their own country. The most prominent example is Hezbollah, the militant organization that has repeatedly subordinated Lebanon’s national interests to the agenda of its Iranian patron.
Yet instead of focusing its firepower on those responsible, Israel has once again launched massive strikes against the southern suburbs of Beirut after ordering the entire population — more than half a million people — to evacuate.
Where exactly are these people supposed to go?
The Shiites of Lebanon have suffered more than anyone from Hezbollah’s reckless decisions and disastrous calculations. Their homes have been destroyed, their neighborhoods turned into battlefields, and their lives repeatedly uprooted. They are victims of this strategy — not its architects.
By humiliating and terrorizing innocent civilians, Israel is making a profound strategic mistake. More importantly, it is showing little vision for what a future relationship with Lebanon could look like.
For years there has been talk about the possibility of normalization between Lebanon and Israel. But normalization cannot be built on humiliation, displacement, and collective punishment. Sustainable peace requires that the people of both countries see each other as neighbors, not permanent enemies.
Every bomb that falls on civilian neighborhoods plants another seed of bitterness that will make reconciliation harder tomorrow.
What makes this situation even more troubling is that many of the weapons used in these operations are financed by American taxpayers. Among those taxpayers are more than one million Americans of Lebanese descent who watch with anguish as the country of their parents and grandparents is repeatedly devastated. These Americans contribute to the U.S. economy, serve in its armed forces, and participate fully in its democracy. They have every right to question why their tax dollars are being used in ways that bring destruction and humiliation to the land of their heritage.
Israel has already demonstrated that it can reach its enemies when it chooses to. It proved this when it eliminated Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior figures in the organization.
If Israel knows where Hezbollah’s leadership is hiding, it should go after them.
Target the militants.
Target the commanders.
Target the Iranian operatives who turned Lebanon into a battlefield.
But leave the innocent Lebanese civilians alone.
Lebanon has already paid a devastating price for Hezbollah’s loyalty to Iran. Continuing to punish the very people who have suffered the most will not bring security to Israel, nor stability to Lebanon.
It will only guarantee that the wounds of this conflict remain open for generations.
Like all the Lebanese, the Shiites of Lebanon deserve dignity — not to be used as human shields for the ambitions of others.
The humiliation of Lebanon’s civilians must stop — now.
