Israel and Lebanon are scheduled for historic talks. But almost no one believes that they will succeed
That the ceasefire results in rare, face-to-face talks between Israel and Lebanese officials as it will begin in Washington today, it will be too late for the son of Mohamad Khaireddine, 19, Abbas.
Abbas, who was completing his final year in the university’s hotel management program, was in his home in the south Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh last Wednesday when, without warning, at least one Israeli missile struck his building, destroying the building.
He killed him instantly, along with seven others, according to his father.
“He was sitting at home, an innocent person, without weapons, with nothing,” said Khaireddine, after the incident a militant group Hezbollah invited the media to witness the damage and repair efforts in the Shiite-majority area.
During a short visit, local people he raised a large statue of Abbas from the third floor of the building, near where he was killed.
“Israel calls them ‘terrorists,’ but Israel provides no evidence that there is anything to do with Hezbollah here,” Khaireddine said.
He pointed to the rubble of a neighbor’s house, where he said the entire family – including an architect and coach – had been killed.
“Where are those terrorists? It doesn’t look like they had any weapons.”
The unmistakable smell of rotting flesh still wafted from the rubbleunder it some bodies remain buried.
I The airstrikes killed more than 300 people and left more than 1,000 injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. in the country’s worst day since the start of the Iran war.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said last Wednesday’s attack, including the attack Dahiyehthey were aimed at “terrorist targets,” including Hezbollah’s headquarters, facilities and other infrastructure. Although Israel says it has killed more than 250 soldiers, it has not provided concrete evidence.
A team from CBC News is in Beirut, and was told repeatedly that last Wednesday’s Israeli attack had a devastating emotional impact on the country, which has been devastated by decades of conflict. And despite plans for the two countries to hold talks today, analysts and observers do not believe that a ceasefire will come out of them.
A sense of hopelessness
The emotional toll of the latest attack is felt across the city.
At the Makassed General Hospital in Beirut, the chief medical officer, Dr. Wael Jarouch described his staff as “exhausted” and “devastated” after treating 80 victims from the disaster.
“You live in a situation where you cannot plan for the future, we take it day by day.
One of his patients, Sabah Al-Kurdi, 51, was seriously injured in his legs when he was pierced by pieces of arrows.
“When we were attacked by a wave of airstrikes, it hurt us a lot. It hit me in a way that I know I won’t be able to win completely,” he said while lying in the hospital.
Most of his lower body remains wrapped in bandages.
Al-Kurdi said he fled to his home in Dahiyeh for what he thought was a safe place, but was beaten.
“Now I’m really scared,” he told CBC News. Whenever I hear the sound of an Israeli plane, I get worried.”
While Dahiyeh and large swaths of southern Lebanon are known as strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Wednesday’s attack went too far.
They hit places in broad daylight, without warning, including many they were outside the “red zones” designated by Israel, which are likely to be hit.
Witnesses told CBC News that some areas were filled with families displaced by the war.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the latter began its war with Hamas in Gaza in 2023. Lebanon was drawn into the US and Israel’s war against Iran on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel, in coordination with Tehran.
Health officials in Lebanon say more than 2,000 people have died and 6,700 have been injured in the past five weeks of unrest. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities say that Hezbollah has killed 12 of its soldiers and two civilians at the same time.
To cut through the diplomatic
I recent strikes in Lebanon came a day after US President Donald Trump agreed to a temporary suspension of hostilities with Iran. While Israel has agreed to halt the offensive, it has said it considers Lebanon a separate battlefield.
Still, in the face of harsh international condemnation and following a nasty phone call with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to let Lebanon go ahead with its proposal for face-to-face talks.
But those talks, involving ambassadors from both countries, may not last long. Lebanon’s previous position is a complete cessation of hostilities, something Israel refuses to do.
The head of Hezbollah Naim Qassem called the talks “absurd” and said that simply talking to Israel is tantamount to surrender.
David Wood, a Beirut-based analyst for the International Crisis Group says there is a high chance of a temporary lull in the conflict.
“As long as Iran wants Hezbollah to continue to provide some kind of military threat to Israel, it can undermine any ceasefire agreement reached, even if Israel – unlike under the last cease-fire agreement – agreed to fully comply with it and respect its terms,” he told CBC News.
Attack on Israel
Although Beirut has received a respite from Israeli attacks since last Wednesday’s violence, the IDF has continued to attack southern Lebanon.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu visited southern Lebanon, taken by the Israeli army. He also asserted that there will be no change in strategy. He said Israel is determined to expel Hezbollah region and creating what he called a “safe zone” south of the Litani River.
The Lebanese government, led by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, has tried to rein in the militant group, including shutting down its military activities, but to limited effect.
Observers say the Lebanese army he won’t to deal directly with this group and that the Israeli attack has undermined Salam’s government.
“I [Lebanese] the government and the president [Joseph Aoun] they are stuck in a bad situation where they need to disarm Hezbollah as required under the ceasefire agreement,” said Wood.
“On the other hand, they have tried not to put too much pressure on Hezbollah because they are afraid of escalating domestic conflicts and potentially deadly outbreaks.”
Wood says the Lebanese government has been trying, without success, to negotiate directly with Israel to try to end the country’s future since district cabuse. The goal is to reassert Lebanon’s sovereignty and thereby weaken Hezbollah’s influence.
Many in Lebanon blame Hezbollah for dragging them into a war between the US, Israel and Iran by launching rocket attacks against Israel in coordination with Iran after the war began.
The weak side
Many of the victims of Wednesday’s attack who spoke to CBC News expressed little hope that the talks will get very far.
“We are a very weak group; we only dream and hope for the best for our country,” said Ahmad Zeineddine, 35, who lived in his parents’ house in central Beirut, across the street from Wednesday’s missile attack.
The explosion blew out many windows in the building and caused large chunks of concrete to fall.
He is not sure if city inspectors will allow him and his family to stay in his house.
Still, there was great resilience on display across Beirut as people worked to recover.
In another destroyed building, builders are rebuilding the wall that was destroyed. Some businesses continue to operate, even though they don’t have windows and workers don’t have furniture or computers.
Like many Lebanese, Zeineddine has the unfortunate experience of facing such difficulties.
He said his former apartment was also damaged during the 2020 explosion in Beirut port that killed more than 200 people and caused an estimated 15 billion dollars in damage.
After that, people just focused on what needed to be done to recover – as they are doing now.
“Lebanese people love life; we fall over and over again and get back on our feet. We’re used to it.”
