More than 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes in southern Lebanon after Hezbollah resumed combat operations against Israel following a November 2024 ceasefire. Hezbollah has said its tactics may include suicide attacks on Israeli targets inside Lebanese territory, while diplomats in Washington and Tehran are central to efforts to contain the wider escalation. On 16 April the US president announced a pause in hostilities, initially for 10 days, which was later extended.

Return to combat

Hezbollah has moved back onto the front line in southern Lebanon after a period of low activity that followed a November 2024 ceasefire. That pause came after months of heavy Israeli military pressure that, according to reporting at the time, stripped away much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership and saw Israeli forces push into Lebanon’s south.

More than a million people fled fighting and bombardment. And while Israel reduced the intensity of strikes over a 15-month stretch after the ceasefire, the group held back from responding until early March.

Hezbollah’s return to active operations came days after strikes attributed to US and Israeli forces targeted senior Iranian leadership, an action that the Lebanese movement said crossed a red line. The Lebanese government moved to ban Hezbollah’s military activity on the same day, but the ban hasn't stopped the group resuming combat, particularly in the south.

What the group still has

For opponents who thought Hezbollah was finished, the group’s reappearance shows it retained a baseline of military capability.

"Although many people said that Hezbollah was defeated, it's clear that Hezbollah is still strong and succeeded in realigning its ranks," said Kassem Kassir, a Lebanese journalist close to Hezbollah.

Mastheads

Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council who has written on Hezbollah, said the group’s comeback was not unexpected because it had maintained fighters, time to reorganise and stockpiles of weapons. Those elements, he said, helped Hezbollah keep operational depth even after losses among senior leaders.

Hezbollah itself has signalled a willingness to revive tactics it last used in the 1980s. A senior military figure linked to the movement told reporters that suicide operations against Israeli targets on Lebanese soil would be resumed, a move that marks a tactical shift and could raise the stakes for civilians and armed forces on both sides.

Humanitarian and strategic consequences

The human cost has been steep. The intensified campaign and ground incursions have displaced about 1.2 million people inside Lebanon, strained public services and damaged infrastructure in areas already fragile from years of political and economic crisis.

And the fighting has spread beyond the south. Israel has carried out strikes in Beirut and other locations, widening the geographic scope of the conflict and deepening political pressure inside Lebanon for a response to both the humanitarian toll and the presence of an armed non-state actor.

That pressure fuelled debates at government level about whether Hezbollah should be disarmed, and whether the group can continue to operate as both a political party and an armed militia. Those conversations intensified after the earlier round of Israeli operations that targeted elements of Hezbollah’s leadership.

Diplomacy in the driving seat

The future of Hezbollah’s military role is now tightly bound up with high-level diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, according to analysts. Negotiations aimed at stopping a broader US–Israel–Iran confrontation and defusing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have become a key determinant of whether the latest escalation can be contained.

Diplomatic activity has produced at least one respite.

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On 16 April the US president announced a cessation of hostilities, initially for 10 days and later extended.

This article was created with AI assistance.