- Lebanese flee under Israeli bombardment
- Schools convert to shelters for evacuees
- Residents divided between fear and defiance
Amid Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah-linked targets in southern Lebanon, families rushed to escape. Many packed belongings and headed north in cars, trucks, and on motorcycles. Some residents, like Zahra Sawli from Nabatieh, reported intense bombardment and received warnings from the Israeli military to evacuate areas near Hezbollah positions.
Zahra described hearing bombings early in the morning, with strikes intensifying by noon. “I saw a lot of strikes, glass shattering, and many people stuck in traffic trying to flee,” she told the BBC. Roads leading to Beirut became clogged with vehicles, and some, like one family of five, arrived in the capital on a single motorbike, exhausted and desperate.
By the evening, Lebanon’s health ministry reported 356 deaths and over 1,200 injuries, including 24 children. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed responsibility for 1,100 strikes in 24 hours, targeting a Hezbollah commander in southern Beirut. Even non-Hezbollah areas, such as Hamra, saw mass evacuations as residents received warnings to leave.
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In Beirut, parents rushed to pull their children from schools amid phone call warnings from Israel. Issa, a father, expressed his fear while picking up his son, saying, “The situation is not reassuring.”
Despite the chaos, defiance lingered in Beirut. One man emphasized the importance of unity regardless of political views, while another long-time resident of Hezbollah’s Dahieyh stronghold, Mohammed, refused to leave, stating, “I have survived all wars since 1975.”
Schools in Beirut, Tripoli, and eastern Lebanon were hastily converted into shelters for the incoming evacuees, while hospitals prepared for a surge of casualties, canceling non-emergency surgeries.
Amid fear and tension, residents of Lebanon, both defiant and resigned, brace themselves for an uncertain future.
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