‘The bombs were everywhere’ – people fleeing Lebanon air strikes

Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah targets have had terrifying effects on local civilians, who have been forced to flee place after place in search of safety.

The last 10 days in Lebanon have seen 600 people killed, thousands of injured and another 90,000 displaced – essentially homeless, as they were forced from their homes.

Some of those abandoning their houses told the BBC of their experiences, leaving their possessions behind and having to rely on strangers to survive.

Among them is Valentine Nasser, a journalist who fled southern Lebanon with her mother and brother on Monday, when an intense bombardment made it Lebanon’s deadliest day in decades.

“We went to Mount Lebanon, about 30 minutes from Beirut, which is currently considered a safe zone,” she said.

The journey took them 15 hours because of severe traffic jams as thousands tried to get away.

“We came here without anything, because the bombs were everywhere and we want to be safe as soon as possible,” she added.

“We are staying in a hotel that’s been converted into a displaced centre and there are more than 300 people here now, with the number increasing.

“We have, like, 50 people in the same room. Many people still haven’t found a place to stay and some have been forced to sleep in their cars.”

She said local authorities were providing food and water, adding that although she had lived through periods of conflict before, this time was different.

“This time is more tension, more sadness, more anger.”

Those in eastern Lebanon, which has seen fewer air strikes than the south, are hoping to avoid the worst of the conflict, with some volunteers providing support.

Amani Deni lives in Beirut and came back to her mother’s house in the Bekaa Valley a few days ago. She normally works at a charity called the International Catholic Migration Commission.

She says: “I have 13 relatives staying with me and my mum, they were displaced from the Baalbek area. They are all staying together in our house, which has only one bedroom and one living room.

“I had to sit with the kids and say, ‘We do have air strikes in this area, the Bekaa Valley too, but it’s safer than Baalbek where you come from.’”

“I am also volunteering in the schools which are housing – helping get them food. The situation is really hard.

“Several schools in my town have refugees in them – many, many people from all over Lebanon – but mainly coming from the south.

“Local people, volunteers, are taking food from our houses and trying to support these people. We have been trying to talk to children, to do psychological first aid. They are panicking and we try to play with them to calm them down.

“They were crying as they were hungry. They’d had only biscuits to eat all day.”

Another resident of Bekaa, Omar Hayek, works with several NGOs including Medecins Sans Frontieres.

He told the BBC there was no sense of safety in the region and people were unsure of what was going to happen next.

“In the Bekaa area, we don’t have many exits,” he said. “If you want to flee, you can flee to Syria, and the question is, is Syria a safe place for us? These questions come up in people’s minds, and you feel like you’re lost.”