Typical of his usual antics, Donald Trump took to social media on the evening of June 1 to declare that Israel, upon his request, had agreed to stop bombing Lebanon. This declaration came after Israel unleashed a series of brutal airstrikes across southern Lebanon, including a strike that destroyed a major hospital in Tyre.
Within 15 hours of Trump’s announcement, Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon killed 11 more people, including multiple children. Since the beginning of 2026, U.S.-backed Israeli forces have killed more than 3,000 Lebanese civilians, injured 10,000, and displaced over a million. The killing continued even as the Lebanese government and Israel engaged in peace talks. In reality, these talks have not been about peace, but about the U.S. and Israel gaining support from the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.
In recent weeks, Israel has targeted Tyre specifically. Tyre is the fourth largest city in Lebanon and is the urban center of the southern part of the country. The city also holds significant historical and cultural significance, as it was founded in 2750 BCE, making it one of the oldest continuously populated cities in the world. Attacking such a culturally significant place is another chapter in a book of collective punishment by the U.S. and Israel against the Lebanese people for daring to stand up to genocide and war.
On and off since Oct. 7, 2023, Hezbollah has intervened fiercely on behalf of the Palestinian people and attacked Zionist settlements in northern occupied Palestine. Hezbollah’s actions are not those of terror, but of self-defense and solidarity with Palestine, Iran, and Yemen.
Even as the fourth round of talks between Lebanon and Israel began in D.C. on June 2, Israel continued its murderous attacks against the Lebanese people. These talks are nothing more than a farce, aimed at strong-arming the Lebanese government into a civil war with Hezbollah.
War on Hezbollah and the Lebanese people is part of a broader landscape of global class warfare. In light of Iran’s effective resistance to the U.S. war machine, imperialist forces have had to look to other fronts to attack the global oppressed and working class. Lebanon is one of those fronts.
The continued offensive against Lebanon is not about terrorism or security, but about the U.S. ruling class’ attempt to assert regional control in West Asia via its satellite, Israel.
Lev Koufax is an anti-Zionist Jewish activist.
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