Despite End of Lebanon’s Long Civil War, Low-Level Conflict Continues Around Israeli-Occupied Zone

Text and photos by JoMarie Fecci

Beirut is being rebuilt at a remarkable pace, and Lebanon seems to have recovered quickly from the 17-year civil war which left the nation in tatters. Yet, as much of the country “gets on with life,” war at the low-intensity conflict level continues in the south.

“Front-line” villages near the Israeli-occupied zone live with a regular soundtrack of artillery and small arms fire in the distance. Though shells fall daily within this “non-occupied” territory, the people in the south go on, hoping that Israel will someday withdraw, while conducting their lives as if they will remain in Israeli gunsights indefinitely.

Fighting Continues

Gazing intently at the framed photo of her “martyred” son, a young resistance fighter, a mother from Chaqra recounted how one night he left on a mission and did not return.

Variations of this story are repeated by other mothers. Most of these martyrs died well after the end of the Lebanese civil war, not in impossible suicide missions but rather in guerrilla operations against heavily defended hilltop positions. In the village cemetery 17 martyrs lie, their graves facing the hills where their comrades-in-arms continue the struggle.

The Hezbollah fighters of the 1990s bear little resemblance to the Western image of wild-eyed fanatics driving trucks full of explosives around Beirut. That stubborn image is the only holdover from the “suicide bomb” tactics of the 1980s.

Since the end of the civil war, the Hezbollah’s armed movement has developed into a disciplined guerrilla force that hits at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their South Lebanon Army (SLA) allies on a daily basis. Recently the Hezbollah has scored some high-profile successes against the IDF, sending shockwaves through Israeli society.

On Aug. 9, for instance, a Hezbollah fighter infiltrated an Israeli position in broad daylight, exchanged fire with Givati Brigade soldiers and fought hand-to-hand with an Israeli paratrooper before escaping. Hezbollah’s successes and the steady toll of Israeli casualties have led some Israelis to rethink the utility of remaining in the “security zone.”

Helping the Communities of the South

The Lebanese government is sometimes seen by southerners as a “phantom prescence.” There are Lebanese Army checkpoints, but the real authority in the area remains with the civil war-era militias, and from these militia structures, institutionalized via the political party system, an efficient social welfare sector has emerged. Associations affiliated with the two Shi’i Muslim militias, Hezbollah and Amal, fill in where the government does not currently commit the resources necessary for the rebuilding of a social service network.

“It will take a while for government hospitals to build themselves up,” said Matthew Hollingworth, country representative for Humanitarian Aid Medical Development (HMD). HMD, funded by the European Union, is the only international NGO assisting government healthcare facilities in the south. The group has donated equipment to government hospitals in Tibneen and Tyre, and has initiated a Nurse Development Program to raise nursing standards overall. Working in the south, Hollingworth sees the importance of the Hezbollah- and Amal-affiliated associations first hand. He explained, “People use what they can access. They go to whatever is servicing their community. The private groups [Hezbollah and Amal] tend to give fairly good service.”

The ultra-modern facility of the Lebanese Welfare Association for the Handicapped Nabih Berri Rehabilitation Foundation in Sarafand is a perfect example. The center, built with funds from Lebanese donors, provides medical services, psychological counseling, social assistance and job training to the handicapped. There is nothing like it anywhere else in Lebanon. And with the ranks of those handicapped greatly increased by the war, the need for such a facility is great.

Hezbollah, too, is very active in the health care sector. Its Islamic Health Society, with 46 centers in Lebanon, including the Al Janoub hospital in Nabatiyeh, has an excellent reputation. “The Hezbollah runs very efficient social welfare activities where government services are lacking,” said Colonel Luigi Orsini, of UNIFIL. “They are dedicated, come quickly to the aid of the people and they have a lot of support here.”

In recent years, the Islamic Health Society has concentrated on building hospitals, clinics, dispensaries and first-response centers in areas closest to the current conflict zone. Although the aim is, first and foremost, to provide health care to the community in general, the clinics can also serve as modern aid stations for victims of the conflict.

Islamic Health Society clinics and dispensaries also promote preventive care through education and outreach. This is particularly relevant in Lebanon, where the government reimbursement system which pays for surgery, but not for medical consultations, encourages people to wait until they are sick enough to need an operation.

Only about 100 meters from an IDF/SLA position, Barachit is a front-line village where, just across from a mosque damaged by IDF/SLA shells, the IHS operates a new village dispensary. “Every day this village risks bombardment, and the people here built the clinic themselves,” explained Jafar Slim, a representative of the Islamic Health Society. Besides offering general medical care, the dispensary operates a mobile clinic, which provides nearby villages with health care, consultations, vaccinations and conducts an on-going campaign to register people’s blood type to facilitate emergency care in the event of bombardment.

“When our community needs help we are there to help,” said Marek Hamzi, director of the Islamic Health Society in Nabitiyeh. “Whether Israel stays or goes we are here to help the development of the region.” This precept was the foundation for the construction of the newest IHS clinic—in operation for only 3 to 4 months—in Aaitit. This small hospital provides a full range of services to an area that includes 25 nearby villages. Besides treating the sick, victims of accidents and those affected by the war, the clinic operates a modern maternity ward, has a dental facility and its own small diagnostic laboratory. Twenty specialists visit during set periods each week, and are on call for emergencies.

The South and UNIFIL

UNIFIL has nothing but praise for the work done by the associations. The peacekeepers’ mission is made easier by anything that helps normalize the situation for residents in this area where keeping the civilian population living a “normal” life has become the common goal.

“The moment the civilians leave, the area becomes a battlefield again,” explained Col. Orsini. As UNIFIL marks the 20th anniversary of its presence in this troubled country, it has a great deal of support from local residents. “After Qana the connection became stronger,” Orsini said. “People saw U.N. soldiers risking their lives to distribute food and other assistance, during the shelling when they didn’t have to. They know the U.N. has taken casulaties.”

The connection between the blue helmets and the residents was clear in Aaita al Jabal, where three Irish soldiers sat sipping tea and eating cookies with a Shi’i family within sight of SLA guns, along the “frontline.” The farmers of Aaita al Jabal eke out a living growing tobacco on lands directly under the SLA/IDF positions.

UNIFIL’s Irish Battalion provides daily security escorts to the farmers as something of a deterrent. However, both IrishBatt soldiers and the villagers agree that it doesn’t deter much. There is frequent shooting from the SLA/IDF position, and when the firing comes too close, the farmers have been known to crowd inside UNIFIL’s armored personnel carrier.

From a heavily defended hilltop observation post of their own, UNIFIL observers watch the activity at the SLA/IDF position across the way through foot-long binoculars. UNIFIL dutifully records the incidents of fire, and where they fall. The situation in Aaita al Jabal is not a “breach” of the accords, according to a UNIFIL representative. He said that the “accepted interpretation” of the agreement not to fire on civilians means “built-up civilian areas,” and does not include farmland outside the village. Much of the nightly “boom-boom” is attributable to “nervous-fire” by frightened young SLA militiamen hoping to discourage Hezbollah actions. To support that contention, Major Ahren of the Irish Battalion cited statistics for one recent evening. Out of 21 incidents of fire in the IrishBatt sector, only four were from an Israeli artillery position known as Echo-219. The rest were from the SLA.

Within Aaita el Jabal, the Irish soldiers conduct twice-daily patrols in addition to special protection during harvest time. However, it is perhaps the general assistance they provide that makes their connection with the village so strong.

“People build houses around the UNIFIL positions,” explained Major Ahren. “If UNIFIL wasn’t here the population wouldn’t be here.” IrishBatt works with orphanages, provides medicine to area clinics, and in Aaita al Jabal even helped a farmer get his stalled tractor moving again during a visit by the writer.

As part of its mandate, UNIFIL is providing security for the construction of a school in Aaita al Jabal. When the school is completed IrishBatt will, on its own, donate supplies and equipment. “For 40 years the Lebanese government has promised to build a school. The presence of IrishBatt finally makes it possible to do it,” explained the moktar (mayor).

“I hope that next year we will be able to plant without the UNIFIL presence,” interjected the moktar’s brother hopefully. “I hope that the Israelis will have withdrawn.”

“I don’t think there will be peace for at least 20 years,” the moktar cautioned, but then added his own optimistic wish. “We believe that the Israelis will one day leave Lebanon,” he said. “It is not their land. They have to leave.”

JoMarie Fecci is a New York-based photojournalist.