A Lebanese Army soldier inspects destroyed vehicles at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, on Sept. 7, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
SOUTH LEBANON — Two MPs from the popular protest movement, Marc Daou (Aley) and Firas Hamdan (Hasbaya), on Monday called on the Lebanese authorities to "save Nabatieh" by deploying the army there and declaring it a "weapons-free" zone, against the backdrop of deadly escalation by the Israeli army in the area after the fall of the strategic Ali Taher hill, raising fears of a full-scale offensive targeting the city. These calls follow a new series of strikes in the region between Sunday night and Monday, which caused a massacre in Kfar Roummane, killing nine members of the same family and two paramedics in their vehicle, as well as injuring many others.
In a message on X, Aley MP Marc Daou, known for his opposition to Hezbollah, called on the Lebanese authorities to "declare a state of emergency in Nabatieh" and to declare the main city in central Jabal Amel "weapons-free." "The city of Nabatieh must be declared weapons-free and a state of emergency must be immediately decreed there by the government. The army must be deployed in all the city's neighborhoods and control the entrances and exits," he emphasized. According to Daou, "the issue of Nabatieh must be placed on the agenda of the Rome negotiations in order to include it in arrangements similar to those provided for the pilot areas," meaning a deployment of the Lebanese Army on the ground to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. On Hezbollah, the MP urged the group "to announce its complete withdrawal from the city and lay down its arms."
Hezbollah completely rejects calls to lay down arms north of the Litani, where Nabatieh is located, and continues to assert that "only the resistance is able to defend Lebanon." Israel's war on Lebanon has so far killed nearly 9,000 people and injured 30,000 since October 2023, according to the latest figures from the Health Ministry.
'Save Nabatieh!' — MP Firas Hamdan's plea to the Lebanese authorities
For his part, Firas Hamdan, MP for Hasbaya and also from the popular protest movement, urged the Lebanese Army, President Joseph Aoun, and the government to act immediately to "save Nabatieh" and to deploy troops and Internal Security Forces in the city, in order to remove any pretext for attack by the Israeli army. "Save the capital of Jabal Amel, do not negotiate the fulfillment of your duty," he stressed on X from Sunday night to Monday. "Now that Ali Taher has fallen, after the dozens of villages and towns before it, and faced with Hezbollah's rejection of all initiatives to transfer their control to the Lebanese army, and in order to protect what remains of our urban centers, our homes, and our memories, I call on the Lebanese army, the presidency, and the Lebanese government to act immediately and deploy the army and security forces intensively and effectively in the city of Nabatieh, and to prevent any Hezbollah military activity, in order to remove any pretext from the enemy," added Hamdan. "The time has come to transfer decision-making to the State and to save Nabatieh from a systematic destruction operation that could leave it meeting the same fate as the villages and towns of Jabal Amel that came before it," he hammered, insisting that "Nabatieh is not a sacrifice for Tehran, nor an arena to settle enemy scores. It is the capital of the governorate and of Jabal Amel, and its protection is everyone's responsibility," the MP said.
Already at the end of May, residents of Sour and Nabatieh had published petitions demanding that these historically and culturally rich localities be declared open cities, free of weapons and spared from destructive strikes. These initiatives caused a stir and angered Hezbollah supporters and sympathizers, who saw them as indirect criticism of their military actions. Pressure was then brought to bear on signatories, resulting in some withdrawals.
These initiatives came in a particularly dramatic context, with both historic cities targeted by heavy bombing, as Israeli troops advanced and took the strategic Beaufort Castle, overlooking Nabatieh.
Sour is the cradle of a UNESCO World Heritage site, while Nabatieh has already lost part of its historic sites. Foreign Minister Joe Rajji and Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh made diplomatic contacts to protect historic and cultural sites. The Sour petition reportedly collected around 150 signatures, and that of Nabatieh over 220.
Israel intensifies attacks on Nabatieh: kills 9 members of same family and 2 paramedics in Kfar Roummane