Risk of escalation along Israel-Lebanese border grows

Iran-backed Hezbollah dominates southern Lebanon, where it has created an ideology centred around armed resistance against neighbouring Israel

Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kafar Hamam, a Lebanese border village with Israel in south Lebanon on Friday, May 17. Picture: Mohammed Zaatari/AP

On a hilltop in the sleepy village of Mleeta, in southern Lebanon, lies Hezbollah’s Museum of Resistance. 

A modern and mostly open-air space, the museum is designed more like a sculpture garden than a venue for war propaganda. Attracting hundreds of visitors a day before the war in Gaza began, the museum is now closed due to the risk of Israel air strikes which have been concentrated in southern Lebanon since October.