Mohamed Hijazi says it's like being buried alive. On April 17, in the early morning, an unexpected call changed his life forever. It was his cousin. He gave him the worst news: his little sister, his three nephews, and his brother-in-law were among the nineteen victims rescued from under the rubble of the Hijazi building, opposite the Tyre promenade. There were only a few minutes left until the ten-day ceasefire came into effect when Israeli planes bombed the building. The explosion tore through the neighborhood at the exact moment the silence was supposed to begin. The truce arrived amidst screams, cries, and rage.

There are lines that precede their own existence. In southern Lebanon, one of them does not appear on any map, has not been validated by any agreement, nor recognized by the United Nations. However, it already imposes its logic on the ground, on displacements, and on destruction. The Israelis call it the "yellow line". And, as often happens in this region, what is born as a provisional military device tends to become permanent.

The old Palace of Justice in Sidon, about 60 kilometers south of Beirut, is once again full of life. But not for the reasons it was built. The old courtrooms, which had been closed for 35 years, have changed function. Where there were once files, judicial hearings, and institutional silence, there are now mattresses lined up against the walls, clothes hung on ropes, and families trying to rebuild a minimal life between cracked walls and roofs that do not fully protect.

The breeze barely manages to soften the tension that can be felt in the improvised camps next to the Beirut promenade. Under tarpaulins held up with ropes and scraps of wood, dozens of families continue here, a few meters from the sea, although the ceasefire has been in effect for hours. No one is dismantling anything, yet. Few seem willing to believe that this time it will last.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu and Joseph Aoun, will speak this Thursday for the first time in 34 years, a meeting that was later confirmed by Likud, the party of the Israeli Prime Minister. But a little later Aoun has made it a condition that a ceasefire be agreed before any direct conversation takes place. "The ceasefire that Lebanon demands from Israel would be the natural starting point for any negotiation," he said in a statement.

While diplomatic channels are discreetly activated, in southern Lebanon the war continues with an intensity that belies any sign of a truce. The paradox is not new in the Middle East, but it is rarely so evident: talks are beginning, but the front does not stop.

In the Ain al-Mreisseh neighborhood, next to the Beirut marina, the silence is only broken by the metallic sound of shovels and the crunch of concrete. Amidst the rubble of a building reduced to dust by Wednesday's bombings, Civil Defense teams continue searching. Four people are still trapped. They could be children. A rescuer points to a specific spot. A few hours ago, a hand was found. Now they are preparing body bags. Barely twenty-four hours have passed since, in less than ten minutes, more than a hundred air attacks hit different points in Lebanon. Beirut, which for months had served as a relative refuge, is no longer one.

Around two in the afternoon, while a warm sun illuminated the Corniche, Beirut's seaside promenade, and hundreds of Beirutis were strolling by the sea after days of tension, the sky broke with a roar. In a few minutes, a series of explosions and the flyover of fighter jets turned an afternoon that many hoped to enjoy into an afternoon of confusion and fear. What some interpreted in the morning as a sign of a pause, after the announcement of a ceasefire for two weeks between the United States and Iran, turned into the largest air offensive in Lebanon since the start of the war.

Around two in the afternoon, while a warm sun illuminated the Corniche, Beirut's seafront promenade, and hundreds of Beirutis were strolling by the sea after days of tension, the sky broke with a roar. In a few minutes, a succession of explosions and the flyover of fighter jets turned an afternoon that many had hoped to enjoy into an afternoon of confusion and fear. What some interpreted in the morning as a sign of a pause, after the announcement of a ceasefire of two weeks between the United States and Iran, has transformed into the largest air offensive in Lebanon since the start of the war.

In Lebanon, nearly one and a half million people have been displaced by the war, but among them is a group suffering a crisis that is rarely explained: African and Asian female workers and migrants. Essential to the country's functioning, they are trapped between violence and precariousness, trying to survive in a context that depends on their work, but which barely recognizes their rights. The streets of Beirut and the villages of Mount Lebanon reflect this silent reality, where war and marginalization mark daily life for those who support other people's homes while trying to care for their own.

In Damascus, the memory of war is not abstract; it is found in half-rebuilt buildings, in empty neighborhoods that have not yet been able to regain their former inhabitants, in shops that open every morning with the hope that the economy will improve. It also filters into daily conversations, where the conflict is no longer evoked as a past event, but as a possibility that could emerge from any corner.

Donald Trump has accustomed the world to paying attention to his social network. It was with a post on Truth Social, early Sunday morning, in which he announced that United States forces had managed to rescue alive the pilot who disappeared in Iran on Friday, after his plane was shot down. No official statement, no press conference, no images, no proof of the rescue. Only a message with the usual exaggerated rhetoric to glorify the US armed forces. "We got him back!", said the president, who added: "Over the past few hours, our military has carried out one of the most daring search and capture operations in United States history for one of our incredible members, who is a highly respected colonel, and I am delighted to let you know that he is now safe and sound!".

Israel advances into Lebanon towards the Litani River region, located about thirty kilometers from the border, and on the ground the sensation is clear: nothing stops it. Evacuation orders, bombings, and troop movements paint a reality that is no longer hidden. Southern Lebanon is emptying as a control that no one has declared, but which is already imposed, is gradually being established.

The attack took place in broad daylight on a secondary road in the Jezzine district, southern Lebanon. A moving vehicle, identified as press, received a first impact, and minutes later, a second in the same area. Inside were three journalists: Ali Shuaib, correspondent for Al-Manar; Fatima Ftouni, reporter for Al-Mayadeen; and her brother, cameraman Mohammad Ftouni. All three died instantly, and the images broadcast show the vehicle reduced to rubble on the asphalt, in a section where there were no visible combat at the time.

The attack, yet another in a war that seems to have no end, was not in the south or in the Shiite outlying neighborhoods of Beirut. It took place in Hazmieh, a residential area far from the usual front lines. It is the second attack in this Christian area in the east of the city, and it struck a building housing displaced families. According to local authorities, the man targeted in the bombing had arrived just an hour earlier. He was not listed as a tenant. One person was killed.

In the hills of southern Lebanon, where the front is once again forging ahead amidst empty villages and bombed-out roads, Hezbollah is not fighting like a retreating force. It is fighting like an organization that has been waiting for this moment for months. This scene contrasts sharply with the image the group projected for over a year. Following the November 27, 2024, agreement negotiated by the Shiite Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, with US mediation, Hezbollah showed signs of restraint. At least formally, it agreed to decouple the Lebanese front from Gaza and tolerated the state's deployment south of the Litani River, in accordance with UN Resolution 1701. For months, it appeared to be withdrawing, cooperating, and even adapting to a new internal balance.

The war against Iran has entered a new phase, one that is more uncomfortable for the United States and whose effects are no longer limited to the military sphere. The conflict has escalated with consequences that are being felt in energy markets, global logistics, and diplomatic alliances. One of the turning points has been The attack on the South Pars gas field, the world's largest, which accounts for about 70-75% of Iran's gas productionThe attack forced the shutdown of two major refineries in the area. The effect was immediate: natural gas and Brent crude oil prices rose sharply, causing serious disruptions in international energy markets.

The building is gone. Where until this morning there was a multi-story structure in Bashoura, in the center of Beirut, there is now an open void, a pile of still-smoldering rubble, and neighbors walking in silence, dodging broken glass and cables. Dust still hangs in the air hours after the impact.

Ali Larijani, former speaker of Iran's parliament and a key figure in the country's Supreme National Security Council, has been killed in an airstrike on Tehran, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced Tuesday, a statement later confirmed by Iran's Supreme National Security Council. His death represents a significant step in Israel's strategy to eliminate high-ranking Iranian officials: it marks the assassination of the most important figure in the regime since Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran. Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, held several prominent positions in the Iranian political system throughout his long career. It was precisely because of his experience and expertise that Ali Khamenei had entrusted him with managing negotiations with the US, bypassing the country's president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Following the Supreme Leader's assassination on February 28, several media outlets pointed to Larijani as the likely culprit. as the new strongman of the Iranian regime.

After days of cross-bombing and airstrikes across the countryThe war between Israel and Hezbollah has entered a new phase. The Israeli army launched limited and targeted ground operations in southern Lebanon on Monday, targeting positions of the Shiite movement near the border. Units of the 91st Division advanced after intense artillery bombardments and airstrikes on Hezbollah bases and tunnels, aiming to dismantle military infrastructure and reinforce what Israel calls a forward "security zone" along the border. Meanwhile, Israeli media are reporting preparations to mobilize up to 450,000 reservists, indicating that the army is preparing for a much broader scenario than a single incursion. Infantry forces are slowly deploying while tanks advance along rural roads that still bear the marks of the 2024 fighting, a reminder that the terrain of southern Lebanon has historically been a persistent battleground.