Lokman Slim – intellectual, writer and Hezbollah critic – eased his frame into the front of the black Toyota hire car and pointed it in the direction of home.

Hezbollah no dey officially govern Lebanon but dem don establish diasef as a powerful force for dia. Dem dey actually run di kontri?

Before Israel’s recent escalation, Hezbollah and Israel had been locked in a tit-for-tat exchange of fire for almost a year. The group began firing rockets at Israeli positions on Oct. 8, 2023 in solidarity with Gaza.

An Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road. The airstrike Friday rendered the road unusable for cars, leaving people to go on foot to the Masnaa Border Crossing where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria in the past two weeks.

Video filmed by the Associated Press shows people in Lebanon carrying their belongings and walking on the edge of a crater near the border with Syria. Israel carried out huge bombing raids on Hezbollah targets near Beirut airport alongside ground attacks in southern Lebanon.