In mid-October 2023, Isra Hamzi was preparing to carry out “a short walk” around her house, in Meiss El-Jabal, a Lebanese town bordering the Jewish State, when violent Israeli bombings in the surrounding area made her and her family decide to flee. “The children were terrified.”says this 33-year-old Lebanese woman, mother of three, known in Bayssour, a town in the Chouf massif, in the center of the country. “I brought some documents and a change of clothes. I didn’t imagine this war would last so long. »
Isra Hamzi, her husband and three children first took refuge with relatives in Dahiyé, the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. But at the end of September, the Israeli army heavily bombed this neighborhood, forcing them to move again. The family settled in a school in Qamatiyé, a village high above Beirut, which was also bombed eight days after their arrival, on October 6. In search of a safer refuge, Isra’s husband contacted an acquaintance in Bayssour, a predominantly Druze city. “Come here, we have space for you »she told him.
At the time, the Al-Samir restaurant, where Isra Hamzi’s family settled near a stream, was being transformed into an accommodation center for displaced people. When Israel began bombing Hezbollah bases throughout Lebanon on September 23, Zaher Aridi and his cousin Anis, the establishment’s directors, instantly understood that the inhabitants of southern Lebanon would soon flock to the Chouf, as during the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Therefore, in the large room of the family restaurant, wooden partitions were placed to accommodate twelve independent rooms and additional solar panels were installed to increase its electrical capacity. Similar work was carried out at the Bayssour cultural center, which today houses 20 families and prepares 250 meals a day.
The Aridi family’s project is financed by donations collected in Lebanon and abroad. In addition to the restaurant and the cultural center, Bayssour has four other spaces that welcome displaced people, including two schools. “What we have put in place is far from meeting demand”confesses Zaher Aridi, 42 years old. “We have to reject people who call us, desperate, because we no longer have space. » The latest wave of refugees arrived after the evacuation order was issued for all residents of Baalbek, prompting an exodus. “We can’t do more. “This war is much worse than the one in 2006.”adds Anis Aridi.
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