One American's detention in Lebanon exposed a truth that is now devastating an entire country

This last week marked the anniversary of the rescue of my late father, Amer Fakhoury, a Lebanese-born Christian, by our government from Beirut, where he had been unlawfully detained for seven months by Hezbollah. His case was not an isolated incident, but rather a revealing moment that exposed a deeper and more troubling reality within Lebanon’s political and security landscape.

For decades, Hezbollah, backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, has exercised significant influence over Lebanon’s institutions. While this influence has long been understood by observers, the events of 2019 brought it into sharp focus. The detention of an American citizen, and the circumstances surrounding it, demonstrated how non-state actors could operate with impunity, effectively overriding the authority of the Lebanese state.

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A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut's southern suburbs overnight March 10 to 11, 2026. (Fadel itani / AFP via Getty Images)

That reality was further reinforced in 2025, when a United States federal court ruled in favor of Amer Fakhoury, holding Iran responsible for its role in his unlawful detention through its support of Hezbollah. 

This landmark judgment affirmed what many had warned for years: that such detentions are not random incidents, but part of a broader, coordinated system backed by a foreign power and executed through Hezbollah’s entrenched presence in Lebanon. Today, the consequences of that system are once again unfolding in a far more devastating way.

For decades, Iranian-backed militias in Lebanon, most notably Hezbollah, have acted on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2006, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a war with Israel after launching a cross-border raid, killing and capturing Israeli soldiers, which triggered a full-scale conflict that caused widespread devastation across Lebanon.

Amer Fakhoury after getting U.S. citizenship. (Courtesy of the Fakhoury family)

We saw this pattern repeat following the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, when Hezbollah began launching missiles into northern Israel in support of Hamas the very next day. And we see it once again today, as Hezbollah has initiated further attacks against Israel in response to the killing of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Lebanon once again finds itself in a destructive conflict with Israel. This escalation did not arise from the collective will of the Lebanese people or through the formal institutions of the Lebanese government, it was instead triggered by unilateral actions taken by Hezbollah. The result has been catastrophic. 

Lebanese civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, with widespread destruction, mass displacement and an economy pushed even further toward collapse. Families who have already endured years of political instability, financial crisis and institutional failure are now facing yet another layer of hardship.

A flag bearing the picture of assassinated pro-Iranian Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah flutters in front of a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Nasrallah’s assassination in an Israeli airstrike at his grave in Beirut. Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 27, 2025. (Marwan Naamani/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

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This moment underscores a fundamental and urgent truth: Lebanon is not fully in control of its own sovereignty.

Decisions of war and peace, which should rest with a nation’s government and its people, are instead being made by an armed group operating outside state authority. The same dynamics that enabled the unlawful detention of Amer Fakhoury are now dragging an entire country into conflict.

It is important to be clear. The people of Lebanon are not the architects of this war. They are its victims. Many have consistently voiced their desire for stability, sovereignty and a future free from external domination and internal coercion.

During President Trump's first term, his administration helped secure the release of New Hampshire businessman Amer Fakhoury. (Fakhoury Family)

Yet even those that speak out often face intimidation and threats. In recent days, MTV Lebanon, one of the few media outlets willing to openly criticize Hezbollah, has been targeted by cyberattacks. At the same time, Hezbollah’s leadership has issued threats of a civil war breaking out within Lebanon.

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The conditions that led to Amer Fakhoury’s detention were not resolved, and today, those same conditions are producing consequences on a much larger and more devastating scale.

Until Lebanon can reclaim full sovereignty over its institutions and decisions, incidents like Fakhoury’s detention, and crises like the current war, will continue to define its trajectory.