The road to the heart of southern Lebanon begins with a roadblock at the Litani River. Foreigners are prohibited from traveling further on without permission from the General Security Directorate
SOUTH LEBANON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) The road to the heart of southern Lebanon begins with a roadblock at the Litani River. Foreigners are prohibited from traveling further on without permission from the General Security Directorate. If permission is granted and all documents are in order, then the way is clear.This part of Lebanon has drawn international attention since Sunday, when the government accused Israel of being behind several drone strikes. Israeli planes make regular flights and helicopters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon remain on active duty. A few decades ago, white vehicles and armored personnel carriers with the inscription "UN" became an unofficial distinguishing feature of southern Lebanon.
Fear of a new war has been felt on Lebanon's streets after the authorities made a statement about an Israeli drone attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which is inhabited by a Shiite population that supports the Hezbollah movement, and on the Palestinian military positions in the Beqaa Valley.
"Will there be a war and what will happen next?" is the only unanswered question that is heard almost everywhere on every street corner, in restaurants, at homes and even at meetings of various political parties.
Southern Lebanon is traditionally considered the stronghold of the Shiite resistance movement. This part of the country consists of endless gorges between gray stony hills decorated with expensive villas, and mansions with fruit gardens and fountains. Southern Lebanon became like this after the war in 2006.
Back then, Israel practically turned most of the Shiite villages and cities into ruins in a matter of weeks. The southern suburbs of the capital also got badly damaged. Just two weeks ago, Lebanon celebrated the 13th anniversary of the end of this war, which remains deeply rooted in the memory of the people.
Emile Lahoud, who was Lebanese president at the time, noted in a recent interview with Sputnik that the Israeli leadership had intended, if not to get rid then at least weaken Hezbollah, but in the end the villages had been rebuilt and had come to be better, and the pro-Iranian resistance had survived, had taken part in the nine-year Syrian conflict and had become more powerful than ever.
Our first stop was the village of Majdal Selm, which is located about 6 miles away from the Israeli border. Things in the village were calm, shops were open, and a few cars passed by. The owners of one of the houses offered us to take some time to drink coffee and enjoy the cool wind, which no one dreams of in Beirut at this time of year.
"We, the older generation, remember the war in the 1980s, and then it came back to us in 2006. Of course, now everyone is on alert and ready to leave. But we are used to the war and confident that Hezbollah will answer, but only the movement's inner circle knows how. We believe in resistance and are not afraid of Israel. If there is a war, then we will defend ourselves," Munir, the eldest in the family, said as he explained the mood of the locals.
He offered to accompany us to the border and we graciously accepted.
On our way to the border, Munir explained that Hezbollah's secretary-general, during his speech on Sunday, personally stated that an answer would come at the right place and the right time.
"I do not remember a thing that he would say and did not do, and the Israelis know this. Therefore, something will happen in the coming days," Munir concluded.
Asked whether this could happen on Saturday, the 41st anniversary of the disappearance of Shia leader Imam Musa al-Sadr, the local shrugged his shoulders and then said with a smile: "It is likely."
We stopped in the border town of Bint Jbeil, which became an unassailable fortress for the Israeli army 13 years ago. The city was bustling around a Sunday market on the central square where all sorts of Chinese trinkets. A sad-looking elderly mullah was sitting on a cracked plastic chair on the way to shopping stalls.
"How do I feel? Bad. Everyone has been talking about the war for a whole week. That is the last thing we need. There are problems in the country; people have almost no money... If the war breaks out, we will have to leave the south, everything will be bombed and we will have to rebuild. And how will we provide for our families? On the other hand, we lived all our lives with war, and now let them [Hezbollah] answer to Israel. It is better to suffer but to maintain the honor," the spiritual mentor said.
After walking around the market and the city streets, we reached to the village of Adeisy, which has become the most famous place in southern Lebanon in recent days. On Wednesday, the Lebanese army opened fire at Israeli reconnaissance drones that had breached the airspace above an army base in the Adeisy region.
There was a concrete fence topped with barbed wire at the border. Locals stood on a wide sidewalk that looked more like an observation deck and taking photos in front of the Palestinian lands and the Israeli army's stronghold. Two armored personnel carriers of the peacekeeping forces and the military in blue berets were standing nearby. The soldiers were obviously tense, only smiling when they were approached with a request to be photographed.
Two camera crews of local tv channels stood under the large multi-colored stand with the inscription: "I love Adeisy."
"What are we waiting for? We do not know yet. Maybe the drone will fly again from that side or something worse, or maybe resistance fighters will do something. So we are waiting here," one of them said with a smile.
Meanwhile, there was absolute silence on the other side of the fence. There was no sign of the usual patrol military vehicles as a rule, they regularly conduct raids along the border or noise from military aircraft.
"Such a situation [with the raids] can be observed for the third day now. The Israelis are probably afraid of Hezbollah's response, which is why they are in fortifications at their strongholds," a Lebanese army soldier standing nearby said.
It seemed that all the people who had gathered in Adeisy believed that there would be an answer from the Shiite movement and were waiting for further developments. In the meantime, other people are stuck in long traffic jams on the main highway from Beirut to the south the prospect of war is no reason to cancel one's weekend getaway.
