Consider This from NPR - What's Israel doing in southern Lebanon?

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

Israel’s invasion in Lebanon is rapidly widening and could outlast the war in Iran.People in southern Lebanon are living through a war within a war.The war is of course the U-S Israeli campaign against Iran.The war within Lebanon started with a series of strikes from the militant group Hezbollah.They launched rockets and drones from Lebanon into Israel.Israel responded with strikes in Lebanon.And with that, a conflict that has flared on and off for decades reignited.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] episode was produced by Connor Donevan and Alejandra Marquez Janse. It was edited by Gerry Holmes, James Hider and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

People in southern Lebanon are living through a war within a war. The war is, of course, the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran. The war within Lebanon started with a series of strikes by the militant group Hezbollah. They launched rockets and drones from Lebanon into Israel, and Israel has responded with strikes in Lebanon. And with that, a conflict that has flared on and off for decades reignited. NPR met one man evacuating his home in a Beirut suburb during this round of strikes. He said he and his family were forced to flee during the last round of fighting just two years ago.

The Lebanese health ministry says some 1,200 people have been killed by this latest war. Now Israel is mounting a widening invasion and ordering residents to leave. Nearly one million people have been displaced inside the country. The goal, according to the country, the goal, according to the state, to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to finally thwart the threat of invasion. Consider this. Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon is rapidly widening and could outlast the war in Iran. The people fleeing their homes don't know when or if they'll be allowed back. From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow.

It's considered this from NPR. For a lot of people in Lebanon right now, home isn't home. It's a soccer stadium or a school or a tent. And Pierre's Lauren Freyer has been talking to some of these people whose lives have been upended. She has this story from southern Lebanon. Schools like this one in the southern town of Jazeen have been repurposed into shelters, kids playing soccer, adults sitting on the curb, chain smoking, scanning evacuation orders Israel puts out on social media. At first, Israeli defense minister Israel Katz, said his troops would accelerate the destruction of homes in southern Lebanon. in accordance with a Gaza model.

And take Lebanese territory up to the Latani River, which runs east-west, varying about 10 to 20 miles north of the current border. A few days later, though, Israel ordered residents to move 10 miles beyond that, north of another river called the Zahrani. Now Netanyahu's threat to widen this invasion without specifics is causing more confusion here. There's fear and exhaustion in everyone's eyes. People are fleeing north in waves, with every new Israeli threat, every new strike, the school principal, Colette Sleem tells me, as warplanes roar overhead.

Her school filled up in the first wave, she says, and is now forced to turn people away. This has been one of the biggest and fastest displacements in Lebanon's history. affecting more than a million people, about a fifth of the population. Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah militants who continue to have support among some of these displaced people and continue to fire thousands of rockets southward across the border. Israel is warning civilians in accordance with international law before bombing their towns. But Ramsey Haiz, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, says when warnings are so broad covering huge swaths of the country. And they're not tied to a specific attack that's going to happen.

They threaten to cause panic amongst the civilian population. For example, in the first day of the escalation, to over 50 villages. By the second day, it was over 100 villages and towns. I meet Joseph Elias Issa in a shepherd's shack in the forest. He's fled the town of Kfarhune just south of here. He huddles around a wood-burning stove, his head wrapped in a kaffia. He says he was raised on that land, makes a living on that land. In his 56 years, he's lived through almost every war with Israel on that land.

But now he wonders if he will ever be able to go home. This time, Israel's defense minister says what he calls a buffer zone will remain until the security of Israel's northern residence is guaranteed. Human Rights Watches says that's forced displacement to possible war. You cannot tie people's return to their homes to some vague safety guarantee that you decide people must be allowed to return to their homes once the hostilities seize. In his forest shack, Issa describes hearing airstrikes as he fled, driving his mules northward in a truck through destruction.

Uphal, through the olive and citrus groves. From this hill, I can look down towards the Zaharani River. That's the zone where Israeli forces have. ordered people to evacuate north of, and even beyond that to the Latani, where Israel has said it wants to make a new border, below which it wants to take Lebanese territory. We're worried this region will no longer be Lebanese, says Paul Krej, a municipal official in a village called Ayn Ebel, near the Israeli border. NPR reached him by phone. It was too dangerous to visit. He said he doesn't know whether to stay or go. The roads keep getting hit by air strikes.

But if the border is moved, he could end up under Israeli occupation. That's happened before. Israel reached the Litan River back in 1978. David El Helu is the mayor of Jazeen. He's old enough to recall how Israel occupied southern Lebanon through the 80s and 90s. They were at a checkpoint like two kilometers from here. Back then, Israel was battling Palestinian militants. Now it's Hezbollah. I ask him if he feels like history is repeating itself. And if he thinks Israel's no-go zone might expand northward into his town.

Things can go wrong any time. You can never be sure when it's going to end, which direction is going to take, what's going to happen. Yeah, the fear is always there. Does this time feel different than the past? I don't know. I have a feeling that this time looks more serious. He and so many other people in this region tell us they think this time, this war may be different.

NPR's Lauren Freer in southern Lebanon. This episode was produced by Connor Donovan and Alejandra Marquez-Honzee, with audio engineering by Ted Mebe. It was edited by Jerry Holmes, James Heider, and Courtney Dorney. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's considered this from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.