The anniversary recently passed of my father, Amer Fakhoury’s, rescue from Beirut – a Lebanese-born Christian unjustly held by Hezbollah for seven agonizing months. His case wasn’t an isolated event, but a stark unveiling of a dangerous reality festering within Lebanon’s fragile political structure.
For decades, Hezbollah, fueled by support from the Islamic Republic of Iran, has steadily tightened its grip on Lebanon’s institutions. While this influence wasn’t a secret, 2019 brought it into brutal focus. The detention of an American citizen exposed how a non-state actor could operate with impunity, effectively silencing the Lebanese state.
This chilling reality was legally affirmed in 2025 when a U.S. federal court held Iran accountable for its role in my father’s unlawful detention, through its backing of Hezbollah. The landmark ruling confirmed a long-held fear: these detentions aren’t random acts, but calculated moves within a coordinated system orchestrated by a foreign power.
For decades, Iranian-backed militias in Lebanon, primarily Hezbollah, have acted as proxies for the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2006, Hezbollah unilaterally plunged Lebanon into war with Israel, initiating a cross-border raid that resulted in widespread devastation across the country.
We witnessed a disturbing echo of this pattern following the October 7th attacks in Israel, when Hezbollah immediately began launching missiles into northern Israel in support of Hamas. Now, once again, Hezbollah has initiated attacks against Israel, this time in response to the death of Iran’s supreme leader.
Lebanon is once again caught in the crosshairs of a destructive conflict with Israel. This escalation wasn’t born from the will of the Lebanese people or their government, but from the unilateral decisions of Hezbollah. The consequences have been catastrophic, falling squarely on the shoulders of Lebanese civilians.
Families already burdened by years of political instability, economic collapse, and institutional failure now face another layer of unimaginable hardship – widespread destruction and mass displacement. The very foundations of their lives are crumbling.
The power to decide matters of war and peace, a right belonging to a nation and its people, has been usurped by an armed group operating outside the bounds of legitimate authority. The same dynamics that allowed for my father’s unlawful detention are now dragging an entire nation into war.
It’s crucial to understand this: the Lebanese people are not responsible for this conflict. They are its victims. They consistently yearn for stability, sovereignty, and a future free from external control and internal oppression.
Even those brave enough to voice dissent face intimidation and threats. Recently, MTV Lebanon, one of the few media outlets willing to openly criticize Hezbollah, was targeted by relentless cyberattacks. Simultaneously, Hezbollah’s leadership has openly threatened a descent into civil war within Lebanon.
The underlying conditions that led to my father’s detention remain unresolved, and today, they are manifesting in consequences of a far greater and more devastating scale. Until Lebanon can fully reclaim sovereignty over its institutions and its future, tragedies like my father’s imprisonment, and crises like the current war, will continue to define its fate.
