A Lebanese Town Tries to Stay Out of Israel-Hezbollah War

The patrolbegins at dusk every night, as the thuds from nearby artillery echo over the distant hills in southern Lebanon. Some scouts settle into hidden perches on the outskirts of town, keeping close watch on the roads leading into it. Others hop on their motorcycles and roam the streets, alerting the police to any suspicious cars or strangers.

The volunteer force describes itself as the first line of defense in Hasbayya, a mostly Druse and Christian town near the Lebanese-Israeli border. But the volunteers are not scanning for only the Israeli troops who invaded southern Lebanon last month as the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel escalated.They are also trying to prevent Hezbollah fighters from entering the town — and dragging it into the wider war.

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict was once contained to the border region, but has since enveloped swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country half the size of Vermont. Israeli airstrikes have rained down across the region, leveling beige stone homes and pulverizing villages into rubble. Hezbollah fighters have volleyed rockets back toward Israel and clashed with invading Israeli troops.

Israel’s military campaign has left few communities in the south untouched. Villages in the south where there is deep support for Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite Muslim movement, have been flattened. Other mostly Christian, Sunni and Druse Lebanese towns that do not support Hezbollah have also been hit.

Lebanon has long been deeply divided along sectarian lines, mainly among its three dominant groups — Shiite and Sunni Muslims and Christians. Hezbollah is the most powerful political and military group in the country, representing many Shiites.

While Lebanese people are largely united against Israel’s onslaught, some in southern towns where Hezbollah does not hold sway say they feel trapped in the crossfire between Israel’s firepower and Hezbollah’s fighters. Desperate to shield their communities, some are cobbling together informal defenses of their own.