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Hundreds of families fled the southern suburb of Beirut, as a result of successive Israeli raids targeting Hezbollah’s stronghold and warnings to evacuate several areas. After the Israeli army issued a warning to the residents of some neighborhoods in the suburb to evacuate, many Beirut streets witnessed traffic congestion, at a time when they are often completely empty and dark due to a power outage.
While the Israeli army was launching successive violent raids, the sky of the southern suburbs lit up. Men, women and children gathered in Martyrs’ Square in the center of the capital, as well as on the Ain al-Mreisseh Corniche, where they spread out on the ground, with worry written on their faces.
The displaced people spent the night outdoors, where they slept on the seaside promenade and the squares near the Biel area. The cars were loaded with mattresses and bags of the displaced people’s belongings, and children were sleeping in some of them, while women and men stood next to them, or spread out on the ground next to them.
Radwan Muslim, a Syrian who took refuge years ago from Aleppo to the Al-Laylaki neighborhood in the southern suburb, one of the areas targeted by the Israeli raids, said: “We were at home and we received notification of the need to evacuate Al-Laylaki in preparation for its bombing. We took the necessary items and our bags with our IDs and left.” The father of six children, the eldest of whom is 17 years old and the youngest of 3 years old, confirmed: “We have no place to stay, and returning to live in Syria is very difficult.”
Near the Zaytouna Bay area, a man in his sixties was sheltering in a hotel building, where he arrived in the area, and no one accompanied him. He said: He took a public transport bus towards Old Sidon Road, and walked a little before a displaced person also picked him up in his car. He added: “Israel imposed a sudden war on us. My family is now in a safe place, but I refused to leave my home.” The man thinks about “small details,” according to him, such as: “the shame of repeatedly asking the hotel staff or nearby restaurants to allow entry to their bathrooms,” which is one of the details that the displaced people who describe themselves as “survivors of death in the suburb” think about.
In addition, more than 50,000 people have fled to Syria, which is suffering from civil war, as a result of the ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon, according to the United Nations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, announced on the X platform yesterday that relief efforts are underway. In coordination with the two governments to help all those in need. In addition, there are more than 200,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon. According to government information, about 1.5 million Syrian refugees and other Syrians who are not refugees currently live in Lebanon.
