Special Report: Israel's psychological war on the Lebanese

By Michał Jagielski

Senior Middle East and Iran Analyst

Genocide Watch

For almost three years, the daily lives of the Lebanese have been scored by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Since the prospect of renewed hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah materialized into a full-scale war following Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, the buzzing of Israeli drones has become a constant feature of Lebanon’s soundscape.

Children try to protect themselves from dust and smoke rising from rubble after Israeli air strikes targeted the Corniche al-Mazraa area in Beirut, Lebanon, causing large-scale destruction [File: Murat Sengul/Anadolu]

Lebanese people have lived with Israel’s military presence for decades. The two have been in an almost constant state of war, or at best frozen conflict, since 1978, with occasional periods of relative calm. Living under this near half-century-old shadow of war has equipped the Lebanese people with an admirable yet tragic level of resilience to armed conflict. Israel’s strategy, however, has evolved. Drones have become a terrifyingly effective tool in modern, asymmetric warfare, a development Israel has taken full advantage of. The IDF has been using drones at an unprecedented scale for surveillance, intimidation, and murder across Lebanon. Given the prolonged regional conflict, the occupation of southern Lebanon, Israel’s apparent impunity on the international scene, and Lebanese officials’ inability to assert the country’s sovereignty over its territory, the long-term consequences of Tel Aviv’s drone warfare on the Lebanese people are grave. This paper’s aim is not to highlight the physical destructiveness of drones, but to draw attention to the intimidation, oppression, and psychological warfare carried out by the IDF against Lebanese civilians, a strategy that amounts to collective punishment and torture.

Full Report:

Special Report - The psychological impact of Israel’s drone and sonic warfare on the Leban.

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