You're listening to the LRB podcast, and I'm your host, Adam Schatz. The subject of this week's

episode is Israel's War Against Lebanon, which began in early March, and which has led to the deaths

of 2,000 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and driven a million people, a fifth of the country's

population from their homes, particularly

Shia in the south. The largest airstrikes of the war were carried out hours after a ceasefire

had been reached between the United States and Iran. On a single day, Israel killed more than

350 people on what is now known as Black Wednesday. Earlier this month, Aal Zemir,

Israel's military chief of staff, declared that Israel would remain in southern Lebanon up to the

Latani River and turn this area into a sterile security buffer zone and a Hezbollah kill zone,

where no Lebanese would be allowed to return.

Lebanese and Israeli delegations met in Washington this week for their first direct talks in 33 years.

Trump has just said that there will be further talks and there are reports that a ceasefire may be imminent.

But Israel is continuing its assaults in Lebanon, particularly in the south, where Hezbollah remains strong.

My guests on this week's episode are two seasoned writers on Lebanese politics and history.

Joel Abirachad, an associate professor at the American University in Beirut, is a historian of colonial medicine whose essays on Lebanon often appear in the Boston Review.

Mohamed Bazi, the director of the Kovorkian Center at New York University, is a journalist

who publishes frequently in The Guardian.

Juel and Mohamed, thanks for joining me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

In early March in the Boston Review, Joelle, you wrote,

In Beirut, we start our days with the latest litany of places and people hit overnight,

...