An Iranian flag flutters from the window of a car as it drives through the southern Lebanese village of Siddiqine, destroyed by Israeli military bombardment on June 15, 2026. (Credit: Kawnat Haju/AFP)
After April 7, then April 17, and again June 15, Soumaya Olleiq, in her fifties, has lost count of how many times a "cease-fire" has been declared in recent months in Lebanon, whether from Washington or Islamabad. "I'm still very cautious, and I'm not very optimistic. This war isn't going to stop overnight," she says. Olleiq is a resident of Yohmor al-Shaqif, one of the villages in southern Nabatieh occupied by Israeli troops, south of Beaufort Castle. "It's always the same bad joke. They mock us every time, saying the war is going to stop ... The Israelis will keep shooting, Hezbollah will respond, and things will start again like before." Israel had destroyed her family home in 2024, before it also destroyed the apartment she rented in Toul, in the Nabatieh district, during her...
After April 7, then April 17, and again June 15, Soumaya Olleiq, in her fifties, has lost count of how many times a "cease-fire" has been declared in recent months in Lebanon, whether from Washington or Islamabad. "I'm still very cautious, and I'm not very optimistic. This war isn't going to stop overnight," she says. Olleiq is a resident of Yohmor al-Shaqif, one of the villages in southern Nabatieh occupied by Israeli troops, south of Beaufort Castle. "It's always the same bad joke. They mock us every time, saying the war is going to stop ... The Israelis will keep shooting, Hezbollah will respond, and things will start again like before." Israel had destroyed her family home in 2024, before it also destroyed the apartment she rented in Toul, in the Nabatieh district, during her...
