New front in Lebanon as Iran war reshapes Middle East
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
Israel began its military assault on Lebanon after the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel as a show of solidarity with Iran.
The U.S. and Israel's war in Iran is not just a regional crisis. It’s reshaping political dynamics across the Middle East, with global repercussions.
Kim Ghattas, journalist and author of Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, offers her view from inside Lebanon, and the changing dynamics across the region.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran is rippling throughout the region, and some of the most |
| 0:06.0 | active fighting outside of Iran is taking place in Lebanon. That's where Israel is conducting |
| 0:11.9 | a massive bombing campaign and ground invasion. Just outside of Lebanon's capital, |
| 0:17.8 | Beirut, there's a Christian majority neighborhood called Hasmea. That's where, in 1958, George Shibli says his grandfather built the comfort hotel. |
| 0:29.4 | But after an Israeli airstrike, the hotel has been reduced to rubble and broken glass. |
| 0:39.9 | NPR correspondent Hade Al-Shalchi was on the scene with Shibli as he described the destruction. |
| 0:48.8 | Shibli says he's tired of Lebanon being helpless and not having control over its own affairs. |
| 1:03.9 | Orders from outside, meaning being told what to do by other countries. |
| 1:08.7 | It's a country that is defined by the geography that it sits in, a geography of conflict, |
| 1:17.0 | at the intersection of interests that clash on its territory, of Western influence and Arab |
| 1:25.2 | disputes. |
| 1:26.4 | And it seems to be the fate of this country to keep going through |
| 1:30.3 | these different conflicts. Kim Hattas is a journalist for the Financial Times and the Atlantic. |
| 1:35.3 | She was born and raised in Lebanon and has spent decades covering the Middle East. |
| 1:40.3 | We're entering a new cycle and the future of this Middle East today is being defined. |
| 1:45.7 | Consider this. The current conflict is not just a regional crisis. It's reshaping how |
| 1:50.9 | countries in the Middle East relate to one another and to forces within with global repercussions. |
| 1:59.5 | From NPR, I'm Adrian Ma. |
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