The attacks of Israel Half a thousand deaths have already been reported LebanonOr Thousands of families have been forced to flee As the international community warns of the growing risk of “total war”.
In a day of unprecedented violence since the exchange of fire between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah broke out nearly a year ago, following the Hamas attacks on October 7 and the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign against different points of the neighboring country which is leaving for the moment at least 492 dead, including at least 24 childrenSome 1,645 people were injured and tens of thousands were displaced.
On Monday morning, Israel urged the Lebanese population to leave the southern regions of the country in the face of imminent bombardments. Subsequently, the Israeli army gave residents of the Bekaa Valley in the east two hours to evacuate areas near buildings used by Hezbollah, before launching new attacks in the area.
Families fleeing in haste and roads blocked
In southern Lebanon, families rushed to load their vehicles with belongings and families, sometimes several generations in the same car, as bombs and fires rained down. Roads to the north were paralyzed. “I took all the important documents and we left. There were attacks everywhere. It was terrifying.“Abed Afou, who fled with his family, including his three children aged six to 13, told Reuters. They did not know where they would stay, but they wanted to reach Beirut.
The displaced are fleeing mainly to the north and west of the country, as well as to the capital, although the southern suburbs of the city have not been spared by an Israeli “precision” attack. Evacuations have also been recorded in known suburbs of the capital, such as Dahye, a stronghold of Hezbollah which was the target a few days ago of a new attack that killed more than fifty people, including more than a dozen senior officials of the Shiite group.
Minister Nasser Yassin, who is in charge of coordinating the response to the crisis, told the same agency that 89 temporary shelters have been set up in schools and other establishments to accommodate those fleeing “Israeli atrocities.” For his part, Public Health Minister Firas Abiad said at a press conference that “following these attacks, Thousands of families have been displaced target areas of the actions”, although it does not provide precise figures on the number of people or areas affected.
According to the National News Agency, the entrance to the southern city of Sidon, on Lebanon’s main coastal road, is recording big traffic jams due to the number of vehicles leaving the southernmost areas. One of the schools set up as shelters for displaced people on the outskirts of the capital was completely dark on Monday night and lacked mattresses, water and the most basic services to serve families, according to the Efe agency.
At a registration table for new arrivals, a coordinator explains to one of the families that there was “nothing” in the hostel and asked them to get into a vehicle to take them to another reception area. Of the more than 113,000 internally displaced people the UN has recorded so far during nearly a year of violence in Lebanon, the vast majority have been hosted by relatives or settled in residences or rented accommodation.
On the brink of ‘total war’
Meanwhile, fears of a “total war” and a ground invasion are growing, while the international community is calling for de-escalation. In recent hours, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Borrellwarned that “We are on the brink of total war” in Lebanon.
“The catastrophe continues and the escalation in Lebanon is extremely dangerous and worrying. I was in Lebanon a few days ago, just before the explosion of electronic devices. It sows terror among the Lebanese population. I can say that we are almost in a total war“We are seeing more military attacks, more collateral damage, more victims,” declared the head of European diplomacy from New York, which is hosting the UN General Assembly this week.
Borrell regretted that “A large number of children and women died“, while “we see thousands of people fleeing “towards the north,” “causing major traffic jams as they escape.” “The attacks will continue and the bombings too,” he observed.
“Civilians pay an intolerable price“This is unacceptable,” he said, stressing that the preliminary figures of victims “are beyond any consideration,” because the explosions take place “without taking into account the environment in which they explode”: “Whether in a shopping center, in a square, in the street, in a hospital, anywhere. These are selective and at the same time random attacks,” he criticized.
The head of European diplomacy explained that they had been “selective in their objectives” and “random in their consequences” and condemned these actions, stressing that “civilians pay a high price” and that “they must be avoided.” “failed war”, renewing “the tense efforts of diplomatic mediation”.
“I think we still have hope (…) but the worst expectations are becoming reality,” he said. Similarly, he maintained that “peace is necessary in the Middle East, because the ongoing escalation poses a danger to the entire region,” while “the path to peace begins with a single step,” that of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
