On 8 April, Beirut experienced what felt like an earthquake as Israeli warplanes struck 100 targets across Lebanon, killing at least 357 people and injuring over 1,200. The Israeli military claimed it targeted Hezbollah command centres, but the bombs hit residential neighbourhoods and commercial streets. Locals called it Black Wednesday.
This attack came hours after a ceasefire in the US-Israel war on Iran, later extended to Lebanon. Despite the truce, Israel continues to occupy over 50 towns in southern Lebanon and raze villages to make them uninhabitable.
The destruction mirrors Israel's strategy in Gaza since October 2023, which the author describes as a machinery of genocide enabled by US support. The Gaza playbook includes intense aerial bombardment, mass evacuation orders, destruction of civilian infrastructure, targeting of hospitals, and killing of journalists.
The seed of this strategy was planted in Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon, leading to the Dahiyeh doctrine, which calls for deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure as collective punishment. The author warns that as long as impunity continues, this playbook will become the new normal in warfare.
