In the evening hours of Aug. 5, the 12-story Tel Aviv city hall building was lit up like the Lebanese flag in solidarity with victims of the Beirut port explosion. Hundreds of residents and international news photographers arrived at Rabin Square, fronting the building, to document the historic moment when an official Israeli institution expressed solidarity with a declared enemy state even as military tensions spike along the border between the two neighbors. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai tweeted, “Humanity precedes any conflict. Our hearts are with the Lebanese people following the terrible disaster that befell them."

Tel Aviv is considered Israel’s most liberal city, but it was not alone. A spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tweeted a photo of the display and wrote, incredibly, “The State of Israel stands together with the Lebanese people, its government and army. Our hearts are with you and we are with you.”

The Foreign Ministry's Arabic-language Twitter account also expressed support. “Humanity above all,” it read. “From the heart of Tel Aviv, Shalom to Beirut.” The prime minister’s Arabic-language spokesperson Ofir Gendelman hailed the gesture, tweeting, “For the very first time in Israel's history, Tel Aviv's city hall was lit tonight with the colors of the Lebanese flag as a sign of solidarity w/ the people of Lebanon and support for them following the horrific #beirutblasts.’’

In addition to the public displays, Israel also offered Lebanon humanitarian and medical aid, including hospital treatment for the injured. Although the COVID-19 epidemic has filled hospitals to capacity, the Ziv Hospital in the northern town of Safed, where casualties of the Syrian civil war have been treated, said in a statement, “We are experienced and we are ready.”