Displacement from southern Lebanon… and fear of repeating the 2006 experience
In front of the family home in southern Lebanon, Shadia Abu Khalil is drinking coffee with her mother, while the sound of shells echoes throughout the town, the majority of whose population was displaced as a result of the exchange of bombings between Hezbollah and Israel.
Abu Khalil (48 years old) told Agence France-Presse from the balcony of her house in the coastal town of Qulaila, located 11 kilometers from the southern border with Israel, “I have five children, some of whom live in Beirut, and those outside Lebanon call me and ask me to Departure”.
She adds: “More than two-thirds of the town’s residents have already left” due to the bombing, which she says brought back her memory of the devastating war experience between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
On Tuesday, the vicinity of the town of Al-Qalila, located in the Tire region, witnessed the launching of rockets from its surroundings, for which the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, claimed responsibility. Israel responded by bombing the town’s surroundings and neighboring areas.
Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that it had targeted an Israeli position on the outskirts of the neighboring town of Al-Dhahira, to which the Hebrew state responded with heavy bombardment, leaving three civilians wounded.
Since Sunday, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging bombardments, the day after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel. This tension raised fears among residents of border towns about its repercussions, pushing hundreds of them to flee.
“Where do we go?… It is not easy to leave your home,” Abu Khalil says as the bombing echoes around her town.
She continues: “People are in a state of loss and confusion. Whoever left the town still has his mind here.”
Residents of the border towns that were under occupation by Israel for 22 years until its withdrawal in 2000 experienced displacement repeatedly, especially during the July 2006 war.
A devastating war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah, leaving more than 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side, most of them civilians, and 160 dead on the Israeli side, most of them military.
The war, which lasted 34 days, caused the displacement of about one million Lebanese from their towns. Since then, the border area has witnessed skirmishes, but limited, between Hezbollah and Israel.
“We are tired”
Bilal Saleh (32 years old) sits in a small café in the town, scrolling through the breaking news that comes in on his cell phone.
The young man, a father of two children, explains that he is the last remaining member of his family inside Al-Quleila, after his two brothers and their families left the previous night.
He says: “There is no one left here… People filled their cars with gasoline, put their children and their belongings and left in a hurry,” after “leaving everything behind them.”
He explains: “I only saw a similar scene during the July War. Everyone who left today fears for his children, not himself.”
During the 2006 war, the border areas, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, emptied of their residents, who headed to areas that remained untouched by Israeli bombing in Beirut and the Mountain. Many went to neighboring Syria, which has been witnessing a devastating conflict for 12 years.
However, the economic crisis that has been ravaging Lebanon for 4 years greatly limits the ability of people to displace, and even to host other areas for the displaced, in the event of a confrontation breaking out at the border.
Kamila Abu Khalil, Shadia’s mother, does not have transportation, but she packed her bag in preparation for an emergency displacement.
The 72-year-old woman told Agence France-Presse: “I do not have a car to transport me,” and I am unable to bear the cost of transportation.
She recounts how she had to stand on the side of the road the night before, to take a car that took her to a safer nearby town, before returning in the morning.
She explains: “If we had money or a car, we would go to one of our relatives’ houses in Sidon or Tyre,” referring to two coastal cities, before adding with a sigh: “We are exhausted, we are tired.”
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2023-10-11 19:26:18
