Dozens gathered in Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square on the evening of March 6 to protest Israel’s ongoing aggression against Lebanon and the forced displacement of residents across the South and Beirut.
One demonstrator, carrying his young daughter, told Al-Akhbar newspaper, “We are staying, and we will remain, and we will teach our children that this is our country and that we will persist, despite the difficulties.”
Speakers said that since the so-called ceasefire agreement was signed in November 2024, Israel has continued its campaign of terror across the South, carrying out daily drone strikes, nighttime raids, and reconnaissance missions.
Political analyst Hosam Matar addressed the crowd, saying, “We are not second‑class citizens, and we are not sheep. Every person killed by Israel is worth this entire galaxy and everything in it.”
Israeli occupation forces have killed 217 people as of the evening of March 6, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Beirut’s Riad al-Solh Square, facing the Grand Serail, filled with people who gathered in solidarity with the forcibly displaced and in protest of the state’s inadequate response. Protestors carried a banner that reads, “With the resistance against the world.” March 6, 2026. Riad al-Solh Square, Beirut. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Protestors gather in solidarity with displaced southerners and to protest security forces’ efforts to re-displace them by forcing them out of the public spaces and public schools they are sheltering in. March 6, 2026. Riad al-Solh Square, Beirut. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
A demonstrator carries his young daughter on his shoulders. She is carrying a poster that reads: “No.” March 6, 2026. Riad al-Solh Square, Beirut. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Demonstrators rally against Israeli occupation forces’ continued aggression against Lebanon and the forced displacement of residents south of the Litani River and Dahieh. The poster in the image reads: “No.” March 6, 2026. Riad al-Solh Square, Beirut. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Earlier today, the Israeli occupation forces issued a forced displacement order to all the residents of Dahieh, threatening their lives if they do not leave the southern suburbs immediately.
This is the first time that such an order designates the entirety of Dahieh, along with adjacent municipalities, as a site for bombardment.
The order came with instructions on which roads to take, threatening against evacuating further south. Residents of Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath were forced to go east, while residents of Haret Hreik and Chiyah were forced to go north — a move widely understood as a means to stoke internal strife.
On March 5, 2026, Israeli occupation forces issued a forced displacement order to all residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, threatening the lives of around 700,000 people. (Map by Ahmad Baydoun/The Public Source)
Dahieh is home to around 700,000 people, some of whom might be unable to leave due to old age or disability, while others may refuse to abandon their homes. Those who try to leave, however, find themselves caught on jam-packed roads, in their cars or on foot, with no guarantee of shelter.
Starting on March 2, Israeli occupation forces similarly issued several forced displacement orders to everyone living south of the Litani River — to over 100 towns and villages — forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, give up their lands, and move north of the river, or risk death.
A map showing the area in southern Lebanon that Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly tried to forcibly empty. (Map by Ahmad Baydoun/The Public Source)
Israel is enforcing the Gaza Doctrine: Forced mass displacement of civilian populations, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened in a video shared across social media: “Beirut’s southern suburbs will soon look like [Gaza's] Khan Younis.”
Thousands of Hezbollah supporters wept and swayed to Hussaini lamentations at a gathering in Dahieh’s Ashoura Square on Sunday, March 1, mourning Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei. Their cries grew louder each time someone invoked the name of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose image rose above the mourners’ heads as chants echoed through the square. For many supporters of the resistance group, the wound of their leader’s martyrdom has yet to heal.
Fasting crowds of mourning men, women, children, and the elderly — all clad in black — marched toward the square from the early morning hours. They carried pictures of Khamenei pressed to their hearts. Joined in chest-beating rituals, waving the flags of Hezbollah and Iran, they chanted: “We will never accept humiliation.” By 4 p.m., Jamous Street was almost completely blocked. The sound of weeping moved through the gathering to the backdrop of the hymn, “Farewell, Our Father.”
Among the women, one voice soared above the others: “Stop your wailing and praise God from the depths of your hearts, with all your strength. We will be victorious; we will break their power.” She then cried, “Death to Israel and death to America” — a slogan repeated by those around her.
Attendees perceived the U.S. and Israel’s assassination of Khamenei on February 28 as an attack on a large segment of the global Muslim population, particularly the Shia community, their own. For many of the late leader's admirers and followers, national borders mean little when religious leadership is under assault. The U.S.-Israeli assassination of the Ayatollah was not merely an attack on a political figure. For many, it was an attack on a spiritual, communal, and transnational leader.
Khamenei is known among his supporters for his simple and ascetic life, which reflected his rejection of consumerist capitalism. In his youth, he and his family endured significant material hardship. In a 2013 post on X, he recalled: “I remember those nights when there was nothing to eat. My mother struggled to prepare dinner, and there was only bread and raisins.”
In spite of escalating U.S. threats against Iran in the days leading up to the latest U.S.-Israeli war, Khamenei continued attending nightly Qur’an recitations during Ramadan. This display of spiritual resolve perplexed members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, who wondered publicly why the Iranian leader had not sought refuge.
Following the official announcement of Khamenei’s martyrdom, resistance factions across the region issued statements mourning the leader and reflecting on the support and guidance he had provided their movements. Among them were the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, who described him as a principal supporter of the Axis of Resistance.
Iran has historically supplied the resistance in the Gaza Strip with arms and military training, enhancing their ability to conduct high-profile operations against the Israeli occupation. Iranian support has been vital for the development of Gaza’s extensive tunnel network, for example, which enabled the resistance to persevere despite the ongoing siege on the Strip.
As the gathering in Khamenei’s honor came to an end, mourners slowly dispersed from Ashoura Square. Many appeared dissatisfied, as though the scale of the gathering had not matched the depth of their anger.
Later that night, Hezbollah launched retaliatory rockets against Israel’s military infrastructure — a first since the ceasefire agreement in November 2024. In a statement following the operation, the group said it targeted the Israeli Mishmar HaCarmel missile defense site south of Haifa with a barrage of precision rockets and drones. Hezbollah framed the operation as a response to the "enemy’s daily attacks against the South."
Over the past year and a half, the Zionist entity has violated the ceasefire agreement more than 15,400 times. Since at least March 1, prior to the rocket launch, 100,000 Israeli occupation soldiers had been deployed across the border. The resistance group characterized the rocket launch as defensive, in anticipation of a broader Israeli aggression.
In his first speech since the operation, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said on Wednesday, “To those who ask why at this precise moment, I ask them: Do you want us to wait indefinitely?” He continued sharply, “Resistance is a right that we will not negotiate with anyone.”
Gaze to the sky, a woman prays and chants, a large poster of the martyred Khamenei raised high behind her. Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
At the heart of the crowd of women, two sit crouched, huddled together and soothing one another. Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
A young girl clutches a photograph of Imam Khamenei seated by a portrait of Imam Khomeini. A red headband from Imam Reza’s shrine adorns her head. It reads: “Sons of Fatima.” Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
A woman looks onward as she carries a portrait of the martyred Supreme Leader close to her chest. Her son stands beside her, wearing a yellow Hezbollah cap and carrying a poster of Khamenei raising his fist, with the words “Oh our leader!” printed on it. Behind them, women raise black banners inscribed with “Oh Zainab the Great.” Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
A woman holds a framed photograph of the late Ayatollah praying, pressing the image to her chest with one hand. She tightly holds a yellow Hezbollah sash with the other, her gaze fixed forward as she listens to the chanters. Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Clad in black, an elderly woman weeps as she beats her chest with her right hand, a Hezbollah sash wrapped around her shoulders. To her left, a hand lifts a photograph of the fighter Hassan Hamid (Abu Turab), martyred in the 66-Day War, marked with the words: “With my brother's martyrdom, I am at your service.” Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Dressed in black, a woman sits on the floor during a gathering paying tribute to the martyred Supreme Leader of Iran Sayyed Ali Khamenei. She weeps quietly, her head bowed in grief, an Iranian flag wrapped around her arm. Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
Holding the Iranian flag, a young boy sits in silence beside the graves of martyred resistance fighters Jalal Taleb al-Affi “Mohammad Ali” and Hajj Ahmad Ali Karaki “Jihad” at the Rawdat al-Hawraa Zainab military cemetery. Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
A woman raises her fist to the sky and chants with the crowd, a digital tasabih visible on her finger. Ashoura Square, Dahieh, Lebanon. March 1, 2026. (Fatima Joumaa/The Public Source)
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