It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting the historic Place Amin El Hafez gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Lebanon, IN is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
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Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Cedars of God Bsharri with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local Ritage Garden or visit Baalbek Roman Ruins, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
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While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Lebanon, IN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Lebanon, IN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Lebanon, IN 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
US President Joe Biden has announced a ceasefire deal to end 13 months of fighting between Israel and with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia supported by Iran.In a joint statement, the US and France said the agreement would cease fighting in Lebanon and "secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations".This is what we know about the ceasefire deal from official briefings and media reports.The ceasefire is meant to be permanentUS President Joe Biden told reporters that the agr...
US President Joe Biden has announced a ceasefire deal to end 13 months of fighting between Israel and with Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia supported by Iran.
In a joint statement, the US and France said the agreement would cease fighting in Lebanon and "secure Israel from the threat of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations".
This is what we know about the ceasefire deal from official briefings and media reports.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that the agreement was "designed to be a permanent ceasefire".
Under the terms of the ceasefire, over 60 days Hezbollah will remove its fighters and weapons from the area between the Blue Line - the unofficial border between Lebanon and Israel - and the Litani river, about 30km (20 miles) to the north.
Hezbollah fighters will be replaced by Lebanese army forces in that area, who will ensure that infrastructure or weaponry is removed and that it cannot be rebuilt, according to a senior US official.
Over the same 60 days, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians, Biden said, adding that it would enable civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes.
The Lebanese army is expected to deploy 5,000 troops to the south under the agreement, according to a US official.
However, questions remain about their role in enforcing the ceasefire, and whether they would confront Hezbollah if needed, which would have the potential to exacerbate tensions in a country where sectarian divisions run deep.
The Lebanese army has also said it does not have the resources - money, manpower and equipment - to fulfil its obligations under the deal, although that could be alleviated by contributions from some of Lebanon’s international allies.
But many Western officials say Hezbollah has been weakened and that this is the moment for the Lebanese government to re-establish control over all the country's territory.
The agreement largely tracks UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Under resolution 1701, areas south of the Litani should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping force (Unifil).
But both sides claimed violations of the resolution.
Israel says Hezbollah was allowed to build extensive infrastructure in the area, while Lebanon says Israel’s violations included military flights over its territory.
This time, the US and France will join the existing tripartite mechanism, which involves Unifil, Lebanon and Israel, which will be charged with monitoring violations, the senior US official said.
"There will be no US combat troops in the area, but there will be military support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, as we've done in the past. But in this case, it'll be typically done with the Lebanese army and in conjunction with the French military as well," the official said.
Alluding to Israeli concerns, Biden said: "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon will not be allowed to be rebuilt."
Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel would “maintain full freedom of military action” in Lebanon “with the United States' full understanding”.
“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack,” he asserted.
Biden supported that view, telling reporters: "If Hezbollah or anyone else breaks the deal and poses a direct threat to Israel, then Israel retains the right to self-defence consistent with international law."
But he also said the deal upholds Lebanon's sovereignty.
The Israeli demand for the right to strike back is not believed to be part of the ceasefire agreement because it was rejected by Lebanon. To get around the issue, media reports had suggested that the US would issue a letter supporting Israel’s right to act.
Israel has increased its attacks on Christian-dominated areas as a way to discourage Lebanese Christians from supporting their Shia neighbors[Beirut] – In 1926, the Maronite patriarch of Lebanon, Elias Peter Hoayek, wrote a letter to the French minister of foreign affairs, defining his country’s relationship with its Christian citizens under the French Mandate.The original idea that served as a basis for the establishment of the Lebanese state was to make it into a refuge for all the Christians of the Or...
Israel has increased its attacks on Christian-dominated areas as a way to discourage Lebanese Christians from supporting their Shia neighbors
[Beirut] – In 1926, the Maronite patriarch of Lebanon, Elias Peter Hoayek, wrote a letter to the French minister of foreign affairs, defining his country’s relationship with its Christian citizens under the French Mandate.
The original idea that served as a basis for the establishment of the Lebanese state was to make it into a refuge for all the Christians of the Orient and an abode of undivided fidelity to France.
“The original idea that served as a basis for the establishment of the Lebanese state was to make it into a refuge for all the Christians of the Orient and an abode of undivided fidelity to France,” he said, referring to a promise that would last almost two more decades.
Six years later, in 1932, Lebanon conducted a census. The results showed that within the country’s constellation of different religious groups, a slim majority of the population comprised Maronite Christians. That almost one-hundred-year-old census is the last official census ever conducted in the cedar-filled country. Still today, this census shapes the Lebanese political system.
However, Lebanon no longer has a Christian majority. Unofficial statistics show that only 32 percent of the Lebanese population follows Christianity. In the last century, Islam has been on the rise in Lebanon and is now practiced by over two-thirds of the population.
Lebanon has 18 officially recognized religious groups. They include five Muslim groups (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Alawite, and Ismaili); 12 Christian groups (Maronite, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Assyrian, Chaldean, Copt, evangelical Protestant, and Roman Catholic); and Jews.
In general, all of the country’s religious sects have found ways to live together and respect each other.
Lebanese Christians are concentrated in areas east of the capital, Beirut, along the northern coast in the mountains of Mount Lebanon, and in some villages in the south. Thousands of Christians used to live in towns sandwiched between their Muslim-Shia neighbors. However, throughout the past two months, despite Israel’s war being with Hezbollah, the Christians in some of these areas have not been spared the constant Israeli aerial bombings and ground invasions.
As a result, many Christians in southern Lebanon have witnessed the destruction of their towns and have been forced to flee their homes. This is despite their insistence on maintaining neutrality after Hezbollah began launching rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after Gaza-based Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel.
There is nothing we can really do. We don’t have a say in this war, not now, not then. Hezbollah imposed this war on all Lebanese, despite their religion.
Since then, southern Lebanese Christians have been resigned to the situation. “There is nothing we can really do,” Joseph Hayek, a Christian from Mount Lebanon, told The Media Line. “We don’t have a say in this war, not now, not then,” he added, referring to the low-intensity clashes that occurred for almost a year across the border until Israel decided to escalate into a total war on September 23, 2024. “Hezbollah imposed this war on all Lebanese, despite their religion,” he said.
During the first weeks of the intensified war, Lebanese citizens came together. Christians and Muslims helped each other as they have done for decades. But that has come to an end. According to Lebanon’s L’Orient-Le Jour daily, by attacking areas with a Christian majority, Israel has been trying to discourage Lebanese Christians from supporting their Shia neighbors. Israel has since heightened its attacks, following increased national Lebanese solidarity in the wake of the September attacks when pagers and wireless devices exploded across Lebanon.
Lebanese political analyst Karim Bitar told L’Orient-Le Jour that Israel’s shelling of Christian areas in Lebanon had sought to incite division among locals by provoking Christians, particularly through claims that weapons were being stockpiled in their regions.
Amid the uncertainty, in many Christian areas, especially east of Beirut and along the northern coast, normality prevails, with restaurants still open and customers coming in. However, recent Israeli military attacks on these areas, specifically on buildings housing displaced people, have led to more cautious responses among residents. Some landlords have already started declining tenants based on their origins.
We don’t know who they are; one of them could be from Hezbollah, and that puts us all at risk.
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“We don’t know who they are; one of them could be from Hezbollah, and that puts us all at risk,” said Walid Yazbek, owner of a building in the Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh in Beirut. He told The Media Line that he only accepted people he knew and trusted after rejecting a young man from Dahiyeh, a friend of one of his tenants.
According to Sister Maya El Beaino, a nun of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, some 9,000 Christians in three villages in southern Lebanon are in constant danger because of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, she wrote in a statement to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
“The situation is horrible; we are in constant danger,” Sister Maya El Beaino wrote. “There is no hospital nearby, and we only have three hours of electricity a day. We have no water or internet connection to call for help,” she added.
Some people, like Ain Ebelher, decided to stay in their villages despite the war. Her village is about three miles from Lebanon’s border with Israel. “Everyone talks about the people who have fled, but no one talks about the many Christians who have chosen to stay because they fear losing their home and their land forever,” she said in the statement to ACN.
The emotional attachment to their land is equal among Christians and Muslims, even though the presence of Christianity in Lebanon is as old as the Christian faith itself.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein landed in Beirut on Tuesday for talks with officials on a truce between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon’s state news agency said, hours after a proposal drafted by Washington won a nod from the Iran-backed group.The visit indicates progress in U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at ending a conflict which spiraled into all-out war in late Septe...
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein landed in Beirut on Tuesday for talks with officials on a truce between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanon’s state news agency said, hours after a proposal drafted by Washington won a nod from the Iran-backed group.
The visit indicates progress in U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at ending a conflict which spiraled into all-out war in late September, when Israel launched a major offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have agreed to the U.S. ceasefire proposal that was submitted in writing last week and made some comments on the content, Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told Reuters on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Hezbollah endorsed its long-time ally Berri to negotiate over a cease-fire, but both it and Israel have escalated the fight as the political efforts carried on.
A diplomat familiar with the talks cautioned that details still needed to be ironed out and these could still hold up a final agreement.
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Signs of optimism for a Lebanon cease-fire emerge
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Khalil said Israel was trying to negotiate “under fire,” a reference to an escalation of its bombardment of Beirut and the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. “This won’t affect our position,” he said.
He declined to detail the notes that Lebanon made on the draft but said they were presented “in a positive atmosphere” and in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
Its terms require Hezbollah to have no armed presence in the area between the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Litani River, which runs 20 miles north of the frontier.
Reuters
Reuters
Following the re-election of former US President Donald Trump, efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel have seemingly gained momentum. On Monday, US special envoy Amos Hochstein and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met in Washington to discuss the matter.In October, Hochstein traveled to Beirut, but his visit bore no fruit, as he made clear that for the US, “both sides simply committing to [United Nations Security Council Resolution] 1701 is not enough” and that there needs to be a new &...
Following the re-election of former US President Donald Trump, efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel have seemingly gained momentum. On Monday, US special envoy Amos Hochstein and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met in Washington to discuss the matter.
In October, Hochstein traveled to Beirut, but his visit bore no fruit, as he made clear that for the US, “both sides simply committing to [United Nations Security Council Resolution] 1701 is not enough” and that there needs to be a new “formula that brings an end to this conflict once and for all”. Casting aside UN decisions appears to have become commonplace among US officials of late, with disastrous consequences.
In their latest offer, Israel and the US are demanding that Lebanon accept a new arrangement in which Israeli troops can engage in “active enforcement” of demilitarisation in southern Lebanon. In other words, Israel would have effective military control over Lebanese territory.
No sovereign nation – or non-state actor – would ever agree to such terms. Neither Lebanon nor Hezbollah would give up their military deterrence. Therefore, US and Israeli insistence on these new conditions will only prolong the war.
Building a new consensus around Resolution 1701 remains the only viable path towards peace.
The resolution brought to an end Israel’s last war with Lebanon in 2006, acting as a mechanism to stop the hostilities and outlining measures to clear the border area of armed group presence. Although there were issues with its full implementation – which both sides were aware would happen – it effectively put an end to the fighting.
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Commitment to its implementation can stop hostilities this time as well. And Hezbollah must make the first move.
On Sunday, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that after 40 days of intense fighting, Hezbollah has been defeated. “Now it is our job to continue to put pressure in order to bring about the fruits of that victory,” he reportedly said during an official ceremony.
Israel seems to be convinced that it can bring Hezbollah to capitulation by force. However, going for a military solution in Lebanon means war that will not be anything like the 2006 conflict.
Back then, Israel’s ground offensive faltered, and public support eroded as losses mounted. Today, Prime Minister Netanyahu has the Israeli public’s backing, buoyed by military successes that have eliminated Hezbollah’s leadership and disrupted its communications networks.
Despite these losses, Hezbollah is also better prepared, better equipped, and arguably more disciplined than in 2006. It’s little wonder that Israel has not managed to gain more than a few miles of ground in since its land incursions began and the daily rocket salvoes directed at northern and central Israel continue.
Barring some major change or diplomatic shift under the incoming Trump administration that would put pressure on Israel, all of this means that we are in for a very long war.
Hezbollah restarted hostilities with Israel in support of its ally Hamas and, up until recently, made a ceasefire with Israel contingent on a ceasefire in Gaza. The group knows that while many Lebanese understand its ongoing intervention, many are also dissatisfied, to say the least, with its actions over the past two decades.
By propping the Syrian regime in the 2010s, helping maintain the rule of the corrupt Lebanese elite when the economy collapsed in 2019, and blocking the investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast, Hezbollah has made a lot of enemies at home and abroad and has had to rely almost completely on Iran for diplomatic leverage and military prowess.
Its refusal to integrate into a national defence strategy by maintaining its weapons outside of the command and control of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has also led to a colossal mismanagement of national security and left the country vulnerable to Israel’s far superior military.
The devastation Israel is wreaking across Lebanon is also a major cause for concern. The longer the huge displacement from the south and east of the country continues, the more social tensions and anger towards Hezbollah will grow.
At the same time, Hezbollah’s deterrent arsenal of missiles and fighters is Lebanon’s only real bargaining chip. Without Hezbollah, Israel’s Merkava tanks would almost certainly roll into Beirut and install a puppet regime, facing little resistance along the way.
The Lebanese calling for Hezbollah to give up its arms for peace are either living in a fantasy world or are just terrible negotiators.
That said, if Hezbollah wants to salvage any semblance of Lebanese unity, the onus is on it to come to the table with a political plan for the implementation of Resolution 1701. It also needs to prove it can work within a national framework, not just act as an Iranian proxy.
Given the distrust among its detractors, for these initiatives to work they would need to happen in phases. For starters, Hezbollah would need to explain how it will formally coordinate with the LAF to form a joint deterrent force, just like it did in 2017 when they fought together against ISIL (ISIS). In addition, Hezbollah will need to accept that the national army and government speak on its behalf and that it needs to take its place in such a configuration without the threat of arms or veto power over political decisions.
From there, the party will need to elaborate on Lebanon’s national defence strategy, which can’t rely solely on the woefully under-resourced LAF. That strategy needs Hezbollah’s arms – but with a clear roadmap for integration.
Any new defence strategy that leaves Lebanon without a deterrent against Israel’s war machine is bound to fail and reinforce the justification for Iran and Hezbollah to maintain a non-state deterrent. Talk of a new national security framework and support for the LAF at conferences like the one organised by France in late October remains irrelevant, as it comes without concrete security guarantees for Lebanon.
If French President Emmanuel Macron, or any other Western leader, were serious about supporting Lebanon, they would offer something more concrete than mere talk of an arms embargo on Israel. France could offer Rafale jets or air defence systems, for instance, which would allow the LAF to establish its own deterrence.
Of course, that would mean France overstepping the US in terms of material support to the LAF – something that is unlikely before, at the very least, a well-defined stance on Lebanon’s national defence is made by Hezbollah and Iran.
What is clear at this stage is that an international diplomatic solution is needed, but not one which discards the consensus reached in 2006. The West and the incoming Trump administration need to face the fact that without a return to Resolution 1701, security guarantees and a military deterrent for Lebanon, wars with Israel will continue.
Hezbollah and Iran also need to understand they cannot run a private army in Lebanon and get away with it without deadly consequences. Otherwise, everyone will find themselves back on the battlefield talking about yet another “new formula”.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
When the civil war in Syria threatened his village more than a decade ago, a farmer and his family fled to neighboring Lebanon.The farmer, Ali Kheir Khallu, 37, found work there growing oranges and bananas. Life was hard, he said, but at least he felt safe.That feeling vanished last month as Israel ramped up its war with Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia, heavily bombing sites that it said belon...
When the civil war in Syria threatened his village more than a decade ago, a farmer and his family fled to neighboring Lebanon.
The farmer, Ali Kheir Khallu, 37, found work there growing oranges and bananas. Life was hard, he said, but at least he felt safe.
That feeling vanished last month as Israel ramped up its war with Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia, heavily bombing sites that it said belonged to the group. When the bombs fell near Mr. Kheir Khallu’s house, he packed up his family, left behind the new lives they had built in Lebanon and fled back to Syria, where they are now struggling to start over, yet again.
“You want to make up for all that you have lost,” he said. “But you are still in shock.”
As the war in Lebanon expands, more than 1.2 million people — one-fifth of the population — have been displaced from their homes, the government says.
While most have sought safety in other parts of Lebanon, more than 470,000 people, mostly Syrians, have crossed into Syria in the last six weeks, aid groups say.
Since Syrian rebels tried to topple the government in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad has fought to stay in power, with his forces bombing and besieging opposition communities and repeatedly using chemical weapons. The war drew in Russia, the United States, the jihadists of Islamic State and other forces, displacing about 12 million residents, or more than half the country’s population.
More than 1.1 million Syrians registered as refugees in Lebanon, most of them deeply impoverished and in Lebanese communities that wanted them to leave. Some of these refugees have now decided to try their luck in their own shattered country rather than under the bombs in Lebanon. But they must navigate Syria’s tattered economy, damaged communities and a government long known to trample on human rights.
Mr. al-Assad’s authoritarian government controls most of Syria’s major cities, but large parts of the country are dominated by either Turkish-backed armed groups in the northwest or a Kurdish-led militia supported by the United States in the northeast.
Human Rights Watch warned recently that Syrians returning home could face repression by the government, including forced disappearance and torture.
Mr. Kheir Khallu and other returning refugees spoke to The New York Times in the village of al-Rai in northern Syria during a visit facilitated by the Turkish authorities who oversee the area.
His uncle, Abdel-Majid Dahdou, 48, has also recently returned from Lebanon and said that Syrian war and the passage of time had transformed their village, Celame. Shelling damaged his house and looters cleaned it out, he said, leaving him to now borrow mattresses and blankets for his family.
When he left years ago, rebels were fighting the Syrian government. Now, Turkey supports the local security forces and provides basic services.
But the new Turkish-backed authorities there have refused to recognize his Syrian government identity card, he said, meaning that he cannot enroll his children in school or connect his house to the electric grid. So while trying to figure out how to get a local ID, he charges his cellphone at a relative’s house.
“At night, we sit in the dark,” he said.
Other Syrians said they had also found it hard to return.
Mohammed Najjar, 42, left his home and housewares store in the town of Azaz on the Turkish border in 2013 to go to Lebanon, where he sold clothes at an outdoor market and worked as a day laborer in agriculture. His family registered as refugees with the United Nations, he said, but stopped receiving aid years ago.
Then work grew scarce as Lebanon sank into a deep economic crisis that began in 2019, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
So when Israel began bombing near where his family lived, he said, he decided to head home.
“It was war. There was no money, and we worried about the children, how to pay the rent, where we would live,” he said. “So we decided it was safer to come home.”
He returned with his brother’s wife, Hamida Brimo, who had gone to Lebanon at age 10 and come home a 22-year-old mother of three. She got married in Lebanon, but her husband did not make the move to Syria with her and their children, she said, because he feared being forced to serve in the Syrian Army.
She said she didn’t know when she would see her husband again, but she hoped that at least she and her daughters would be safe in Syria.
“We came back, but we don’t know how our lives here will be,” she said. “We have to return and start over.”
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