In a ruined Hezbollah stronghold, supporters question the costs of war

Displaced families are streaming back into Tyre, in southern Lebanon, to take stock of the destruction.

6 min
Several Hezbollah fighters were buried in the village of Maarakeh after the ceasefire took effect. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post)
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TYRE, Lebanon — The bodies were laid out in long rows, hundreds of them, mostly fighters but civilians too, in plywood boxes poking out from heaps of earth.

“It’s our culture to view this as a victory,” said Mahmoud, a police officer, standing by the grave of a relative and tracing the outline of the coffins with his finger. “But anyone who tells you that we won militarily … something has gone wrong in their head.” Like others in this story, Mahmoud spoke on the condition that he be identified by his first name, fearing retribution from Hezbollah.

Middle East conflict

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for over a year, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding Middle East region.

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking civilian hostages. We’re tracking how many hostages remain in Gaza. Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948. In July 2024, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an attack Hamas has blamed on Israel.

Cease-fire: Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah agreed to a cease-fire deal in November 2024, bringing a tenuous halt to more than a year of hostilities. Here’s what to know about the deal’s terms and how it will be enforced.

Hezbollah: Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant organization backed by Iran, have escalated over the past year, leading to an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Israel’s airstrikes into Lebanon have grown more intense and deadly, killing over 1,400 people including Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s longtime leader. The Israel-Lebanon border has a history of violence that dates back to Israel’s founding.

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “famine-like conditions.” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave.

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians, including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons, funds aid packages, and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.