Lebanon paid the price for a ceasefire that never existed

There are moments in international affairs when language itself becomes part of the violence. Lebanon’s latest tragedy may be one of them. More than 150 Israeli strikes reportedly hit southern Lebanon overnight, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured. Entire neighbourhoods were shattered before sunrise. Families fled once again along roads already crowded by months of displacement. Yet this devastation unfolded beneath the vocabulary of a ‘ceasefire’ — a word that, in theory, should signify restraint, protection and a chance for diplomacy to breathe. The scale of the suffering tells its own story. Since March 2, 3,980 people have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded, among them 247 children, 363 women and 133 healthcare workers. More than one million civilians […]