Traffic jams towards Sour, on Friday, April 17, 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour)
The Lebanese government has once again declared May 25 a public holiday in Lebanon this year, to commemorate the date in 2000 when the Israeli army unilaterally withdrew from southern Lebanon after 18 years of occupation, despite the current Israeli occupation of large portions of territory in this region of the country.
The closure of public administrations, public institutions, schools, universities, as well as municipalities will this time take place "in solidarity with the families of the martyrs, the wounded, detainees and the displaced, as well as with our residents of the South and frontline villages, and in support of their resilience," wrote Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in a message shared by the Grand Serail on its X account.
Hezbollah took pride every year in "Resistance and Liberation Day" on May 25.
The Israeli army launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in March 2026, following Hezbollah’s entry into the regional war on March 2 alongside the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was targeted two days earlier by an Israeli-American air campaign against its territory.
It now controls territories up to nearly 8 kilometers deep, and has made no secret of its intention to turn the occupied territories into a "buffer zone."
The direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, which began Thursday in Washington, are aimed on the Lebanese side at securing a withdrawal of the Israeli army, which Israel has made conditional on the effective disarmament of Hezbollah.
