0:00
This message comes from total wine and more, with the largest selection,
0:04
finding a favorite cabernet or discovering a new single barrel bourbon is simple.
0:09
Shop total wine and more, in store or online.
0:12
Spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina, drink responsibly must be 21.
0:18
Today on State of the World, another front in the war with Iran, the Israel Lebanon border.
0:25
You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the days most vital international
0:32
stories up close where they're happening. It's Wednesday, March 11th. I'm Greg Dixon.
0:38
In Southern Lebanon, his beloved militants backed by Iran have been firing rockets at Israel.
0:44
That's in retaliation for Israel's war in Iran.
0:48
And Israel has been firing back, hard. Almost 700,000 Lebanese have been displaced, mostly fleeing
0:55
Israel's air strikes. In a few minutes, we go to Lebanon to hear how people view these attacks
1:01
by Hezbollah. First, we're going to the Israeli side of the border. Their NPR's Kerry Khan
1:07
tells us the daily rocket attacks are keeping people on edge, but also defiant.
1:13
It's a clear windy day as 71-year-old Ahuva Lippman walks her quiet neighborhood in Kirti-Atsmona.
1:20
She's lived here for more than 50 years and says she has no plans to leave.
1:26
No, I don't want to leave because I feel that my hair roots is here and I like them and do
1:33
heavy work. Oh, so what was that? Lippman doesn't even flinch as a huge boom rings out,
1:41
echoing off the green hills of the city of about 25,000, one of the largest in Israel's northern border.
1:49
You heard that, right? It's ours. It's ours, she says. So that's Israel firing into Lebanon.
1:58
If you hear boom and then it's meant it's ours. Okay, what's the other sound? When do I run?
2:09
Unlike in other Israeli cities where residents have a few minutes between the air-raid sirens
2:14
and scrambling to a bomb shelter, up here next to Lebanon, the sirens and the missiles come together,
2:21
she says. In just minutes later we are all running into a shelter.
2:40
Lippman and her husband sleep in the shelter on metal bunks but she's not complaining or leaving.
2:47
I need to decide what to do, not his bala and not Iran. We'll tell me where to live.
2:55
Where to live is only up to Israeli, she says. Her longtime neighbor Mikhail Sadia agrees.
3:04
She's at her home around the corner filled with grandchildren, the fourth generation living here.
3:10
One gets a big kiss as she serves us tea and small sandwiches.
3:16
She made 80 for the soldiers stationed nearby. Her daughter, a reservist, just got called up.
3:22
Her eldest son was killed in the second Lebanon war more than 20 years ago.
3:30
Our son is buried here, she says, and we hold commemorations for him. We can't leave.
3:36
She says the government needs to give tax breaks and other incentives so Israelis come to live here.
3:43
The entire city evacuated during the Gaza war, they just returned last March,
3:49
but nearly a third of residents never came back, according to city officials.
3:54
Mattan and Salam knows that too well. He's the only small shop owner open in the town's mall.
4:01
He sells electronics and cell phone supplies.
4:07
This isn't working. I'm only here for an hour a day, he says.
4:11
He leaves to meet a customer in the parking lot, but comes right back.
4:16
They didn't show. They called. They were too afraid to come out.
4:22
Too much missile fire back and forth across the border.
4:26
Kerry Khan, NPR News, Kierriach Mona.
4:31
To the other side of the border now, in Lebanon, their Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group
4:36
firing rockets at Israel, enjoys wide popularity. But his NPR's Hedelo Shalchi tells us,
4:42
with this new round of fighting, frustrations with the group, are mounting.
4:47
George Shibli is the owner of the comfort hotel in the Christian majority neighborhood
4:51
of Hasmiye, just outside Beirut. It was founded by his grandfather in 1958.
4:59
Today, Shibli looks exhausted and confused, and Israeli strike has turned his hotel to rubble.
5:11
He points to a mattress that belonged to his receptionist.
5:16
She was in the room at the time of the attack and died a day later.
5:20
Shibli says he doesn't want to talk politics, but he's tired of Lebanon being helpless and
5:24
not having control over its own affairs. We are a small country. And when we get our orders from
5:33
outside, he shrugs and doesn't want to elaborate. But orders from outside in Lebanon means being
5:39
told what to do by other countries, including Iran. For decades, Iran has funded the
5:44
militant group Hezbollah, which has now dragged Lebanon into another war. Lebanese leaders say
5:49
it can't afford. For decades, Hezbollah has been seen by many Lebanese as a resistance movement
5:55
to fend off Israeli aggression and occupation in the south. Today, the Lebanese government is
6:00
trying to distance itself from Hezbollah, as Iran itself is now under attack from Israel in the U.S.
6:07
One man at the forefront of this push to rid Lebanon of Hezbollah is Justice Minister Adel Nasar.
6:13
In an unprecedented move, the minister instructed security authorities to issue arrest warrants
6:18
for those who launched the rockets at Israel last week. Unfortunately, they gave this
6:24
pretext to Israel. Although we condemn, without any reservation, the reaction of Israel
6:31
it remains that we have a major problem with Hezbollah.
6:34
Also, for the first time, the minister has proposed to charge Hezbollah's leader, Naim Qasim,
6:38
with, quote, dragging Lebanon into war and tampering with security. It's the sharpest
6:44
rebuke any Lebanese government official has made against Hezbollah. Even in its own stronghold,
6:49
patience is wearing thin with the militant group.
6:52
That's a mayor from a town in southern Lebanon. The region where Hezbollah was founded runs
6:59
its military and offers civil services like health care and education. He doesn't want us to use
7:04
his name because he's afraid of repercussions for speaking out about politics.
7:08
The mayor says even his own community was shocked and angry when Hezbollah launched rockets at
7:13
Israel this time. He believes Hezbollah should only act in defense.
7:27
We won't accept Hezbollah's decision to avenge the Iranian Supreme Leader's death
7:31
or be in solidarity with Iran, he says. The mayor says the group didn't think about the
7:36
consequences for their own people and Lebanon's people overall. This mayor is among tens of
7:42
thousands of Lebanese who are now displaced. Many are forced to sleep on the streets,
7:46
huddled in makeshift tents. Iran gives at least $700 million annually to Hezbollah in Lebanon,
7:52
according to the US State Department. And this mayor says that means Iran calls the shots.
7:58
If he doesn't get involved in this battle, the Iranians will say,
8:08
what use are they to us? He says. But being at war with Israel for years,
8:13
the mayor says those in the south have no other choice but to look to Hezbollah for defense.
8:22
The resistance, meaning Hezbollah, has become a necessity and a burden on the south.
8:27
The mayor says. The Lebanese government recently banned all Hezbollah military activity.
8:32
The Lebanese political analyst Ali Riz says it's just paying lip service to the US.
8:37
To prove themselves to the Americans. But as you see, the rockets' missiles are still being fired
8:44
from south Lebanon. So Lebanese state can only do so much. It remains outgunned by Hezbollah.
8:50
And until real solutions are found, hotel owner George Shibli says it's people like him
8:55
who will continue to suffer. Hadil al-Shalci and PR news, they root.
9:09
That's the state of the world from NPR. Thanks for listening.
9:26
This message comes from Bombas. Your feet hit the ground in average of 2,000 times in a mile.
9:49
Bombas' sports socks are designed to support you every step.
9:52
Sprint to Bombas.com slash NPR and use code NPR for 20% off.
10:22
The ones you trust find a pro for your projects at angi.com. That's A-N-G-I dot com.