Israel vs. Hezbollah : World War 3 in Middle East ?! | Ep 1. Historical Tension Explained

(feat. Middle East Arab, Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Palestine; Hezbollah, Muslim and the U.S.)

Israel appears ready to launch an all-out war against Hezbollah, raising tensions across the region. To truly understand what’s happening now, let’s dive into the history and the events that have led to this escalation.

1. Israel has launched a large-scale offensive against Hezbollah, starting with a series of explosions using devices like beepers and radios. (pagers, walkie talkies)

2. After hitting over 300 targets in Lebanon with airstrikes, Israel targeted an apartment on the 20th where Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Ibrahim Akil, was staying.

3. Akil and several senior Hezbollah officials were killed in the airstrike, and the building collapse caused more than 100 deaths, including civilians.

4. Israel has been accused of indiscriminately attacking both Hezbollah fighters and civilians.

5. Israel is now indicating it may escalate to full-blown war, with plans to send ground troops into Lebanon.

6. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah goes back decades, with a long history of hostility.

7. Lebanon, located at the centre of the Middle East, was once the region’s leading Christian nation.

8. Before the rise of Islam, Lebanon was part of the Roman Empire, and Maronite Christians made up the majority of the population.

9. After the Roman Empire fell, Lebanon was ruled by Islamic powers. However, during the Crusades, Christian forces took back control, and Lebanon remained a Christian country until 1291.

10. Lebanon was later taken over by the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Türkiye, Turkey), and after the Ottomans lost World War I, France began to rule both Lebanon and Syria.

11. While controlling Lebanon and Syria, France redrew the borders, merging parts of Syria with Lebanon.

12. This shift in borders brought Muslim-majority areas into what had been a mostly Christian country, suddenly increasing Lebanon’s Muslim population.

13. In the redrawn map, the black dashed line shows Lebanon’s original Christian-majority borders, while the outer line marks the regions added under French colonial rule, which had a larger Muslim population.

14. Before the expansion, Christians made up 79% of Lebanon’s population. Afterward, their share dropped to 52%.

15. Meanwhile, the Muslim population nearly doubled, increasing from 21% to 38%.

16. rance took advantage of the divisions between Muslims and Christians to prevent Lebanon from uniting and seeking full independence.

17. After World War II, with religious tensions high, France withdrew, and Lebanon gained independence.

18. Although both Christians and Muslims shared power, Christians were divided into groups like Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants, while Muslims were split between 20% Sunni and 18% Shia.

19. Lebanon, roughly the size of Connecticut, became a melting pot of 18 religious communities. (In the map above, each color represents a different religious group)

20. After gaining independence, Lebanon created a power-sharing system based on religious groups, called the National Pact.

21. Under this system, the President and military commander were always Maronite Christians, the Prime Minister was a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament was a Shia Muslim. Other positions, like Deputy Speaker and Deputy Prime Minister, were divided among Christian sects.

22. Parliamentary seats were also divided, with 54 seats for Christians and 45 for Muslims.

23. However, when Israel was established, many Palestinians fled and became refugees in Lebanon, altering the country’s demographics.

24. As more Palestinian refugees arrived, the Muslim population grew rapidly.

25. With Muslims making up more than half the population but Christians still holding most of the political power, tensions escalated, leading to civil war.

26. As the civil war intensified and the rebels gained strength, Lebanon’s government asked Syria to intervene.

27. Although predominantly Muslim, Syria was seen as more friendly to Christians compared to other Muslim countries.

28. In 1976, Syria agreed to support the Maronite Christians and sent its army into Lebanon.

29. Before deploying its troops, Syria made a secret agreement with Israel.

30. The agreement stated that Syria would not station its troops south of Beirut and would not place long-range missiles or artillery in Lebanon that could threaten Israel.

31. This effectively divided Lebanon, with Syria controlling the north and Israel controlling the south.

32. However, this agreement didn’t last long.

33. During the civil war, Israeli fighter jets shot down a Syrian helicopter, prompting Syria to deploy surface-to-air missiles in Lebanon, leading to direct conflict between the two countries.

34. Although this war is often seen as a conflict between Israel and Lebanon, it was actually a proxy war fought between Israel and Syria on Lebanese soil.

35. On June 6, 1982, Israel launched a major invasion of Lebanon, sending in nearly 80,000 troops.

36. With its advanced F-16 fighter jets, Israel quickly took control of the skies, shifting the battle in its favour.

37. In tank battles, Israel deployed 1,200 Merkava tanks, losing 140. Syria sent 600 T-72 tanks, losing 334 of them.

38. As the situation worsened for Syria, they proposed a ceasefire, agreeing to withdraw their forces from Lebanon.

39. With Syrian forces gone, Israel backed Maronite Christian leader Bashir Gemayel, hoping to establish a pro-Israel government in Lebanon.

40. Gemayel ran unopposed and was elected President of Lebanon on August 23, 1982.

41. However, on September 14, 1982, Gemayel was assassinated by a Syrian agent.

42. After Gemayel’s assassination, Israeli forces and militias supporting him entered two Palestine refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila.

43. Israeli forces surrounded the camps while the militias entered, claiming they were searching for Gemayel’s killers.

44. Rather than just encircling the camps, Israeli forces actively assisted the militias by firing flares to light up the area at night.

45. After three days, the militias withdrew, leaving behind over 3,000 dead, including many women and children.

46. This massacre became know as the Sabra and Shatila Massacre.

47. The massacre drew international outrage, and Israel’s Defend Minister was forced to resign.

48. Osama bin Laden cited this massacre as a reason for planning the 9/11 attacks, as revenge against the U.S., Israel’s ally.

49. After the massacre, a group started gaining power by using guerrilla warfare tactics against Israel.

50. That group is Hezbollah.

51. Hezbollah’s rise coincided with Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon following the massacre.

52. After Israel withdrew, U.S.-led peacekeeping forces, including troops from France and Italy, entered Lebanon.

53. To Hezbollah, these Western peacekeeping forces were seen as invaders, just like the Israelis.

​54. On April, 1983, Hezbollah carried out its first major attack, a suicide coming at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

55. After this, Hezbollah executed two more suicide bombing targeting U.S. and French military barracks, killing 241 American soldiers and 58 French paratroopers.

56. Shocked by the looses, the U.S. decided to pull its forces out of Lebanon.

57. Hezbollah’s successful attacks gave it heroic status across Arab world, and it quickly grew in power.

58. Ibrahim Akil, the mastermind behind this bombing, rose to become Hezbollah’s second-in-command.

59. This U.S. designated Aki as a top terrorist, placing a $7 million bounty on his head. On September bounty for information leading to his capture.

60. On September 20, Israel carried out a targeted airstrike on an apartment in Beirut, killing Ibrahim Akil.

61. That’s the reason why The Financial Times described Aki’s death as “the biggest blow to to Hezbollah since its formation,” highlighting the significance of the Israeli strike.

62. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also commented on Akil, stating that “bring justice to a terrorist responsible for the deaths of Americans is always a positive outcome,” supporting Israel’s action.

One-Liner Comment :

Starting from deep-rooted historical hostilities all the way to the latest headline news, Episode 1 takes you on a journey from the past to the present. In Episode 2, we’ll dive into what comes next—what to expect, and what this conflict means for financial markets. Stay tuned!