‘Non-stop Israeli air strikes everywhere’ as people fled south Lebanon

Tens of thousands of people fled their homes and they really didn’t have much time before they had to evacuate following the orders by the Israeli army.

We were in southern Lebanon and we saw people pack whatever they could to make their way further north. Some moved to the southern city of Sidon, that’s approximately 40 kilometres south of Beirut. Others reached Beirut, others even went further north.

Whole families. People were scared. They were afraid and they were concerned about what would happen next. Some of the families we spoke to said that they had to escape while there was bombardment around them. There were nonstop air strikes almost everywhere you looked. You didn’t know which road was safe, even along the main highway linking south Lebanon to Beirut, we saw air strikes along that highway.

The Lebanese government is talking about opening shelters in schools, because schools have now been closed. They are saying that they are ready to care for approximately 10,000 people. But from what we saw on that highway, there are going to be many more people who are going to need assistance.

This is an impoverished society, a country where the economy has all but collapsed. And it’s also a state which is nearly bankrupt. So there is a lot of concern among these people about how long they are going to be displaced because already in 11 months of fighting, 110,000 people have been displaced from border villages.

And what we understand from the UN is that 150,000 people live up to 10 kilometres from the border. So they have been in the line of fire and it is those people who have lef

t their homes.