Since October 2023 and the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has been characterized as a genocide by a number of legal experts and international organizations,^[1] Lebanon has been under attack from its southern neighbor, with the first Israel-Hezbollah exchange of fire starting on the 8th of October 2023 and continuing with varying levels of intensity to this day.^[2]

Framed by Israel as a war against Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and paramilitary group, attacks on Lebanon intensified in September 2024. According to figures by the media outlet Al Jazeera, Israeli forces killed at least 3,961 people and injured 16,520 between October 2023 and the 26th of November 2024.^[3] On the 27th of November, a ceasefire agreement was signed between Israel and Hezbollah. However, the Lebanese Humanitarian NGO Forum (LHIF) has since reported thousands of violations by Israel, describing them as “total disregard” for the agreement.^[4] As destructive as it was, this was not the first Lebanese-Israeli conflict. The 1982 Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon amidst the Lebanese Civil War, as well as the destructive 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah that severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure, has shaped the relationship between Israel and Lebanon and left a painful legacy of death, destruction and displacement. While the relationship between Israel and Hezbollah has received significant media and academic attention, this article focuses on internal dynamics within Lebanon. It explores instances of solidarity between different religious communities and the complexities of interfaith relationships during wartime, an aspect that appears to have been overlooked by the media. Despite the fact that some outlets mentioned intercommunal solidarity,^[5] major news outlets such as The Guardian, Reuters and L’Orient-Today primarily focus on political tensions and internal division in Lebanon, even pointing out the risk of a new civil war.^[6]

This short contribution aims to answer the following questions: on which level and in which way were the people across Lebanon in solidarity with each other across sectarian lines during the 2024 Israeli offensive? How do religious beliefs lead to displays of solidarity, and how has the war reshaped interfaith relationships? Finally, the article aims to explain the reasons for the possible external and internal misperceptions of Lebanese society by exploring the nexus between religion and politics, as well as the role of the media.