"It's not a byproduct [of the war]. They know very well what they're doing. When they were emptying the southern suburbs, they knew very well that most of these people would head into inner Beirut and into areas which are not areas of Shia majority. And certainly, I think this was their effort to create sectarian tensions and, in a way, put more pressure on the Lebanese state."
"Israel's attacks on Lebanon and pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm the pro-Iran Shia movement Hezbollah by force are stoking internal tensions. Israel is leaning on this division as a strategy to try to pit communities against one another."
Israel's military operations in Lebanon are designed to exacerbate internal sectarian and political tensions as a strategic pressure tactic. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 5,000 people and forcibly displaced 1.2 million Lebanese, particularly from southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs. Analysts indicate this displacement strategy deliberately moves populations into non-Shia majority areas to create sectarian friction and destabilize the Lebanese state. Israel intensified attacks in March 2024, violating a November 2024 ceasefire agreement over 10,000 times according to UN peacekeepers. The strategy aims to force the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah through internal pressure rather than direct military means.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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