Jaafar fishes in the Mediterranean as if there were no war. “The sea,” he said, “is safer than the land. » But this man from Tyre, the largest coastal city in southern Lebanon, knows he is not safe in one place or another. Recently, while he went fishing, his small wooden boat encountered Israeli aircraft carriers. This Wednesday, while his harpoon was looking for young girls for dinner, a handful of these ships launched the first maritime attack against Hezbollah since the start of the war. Yaafar stopped his work because of this: “I have been going fishing every day for 40 years. “I’m not going to stop,” he said.
The walk home is the worst part of the day for this 62-year-old man. At two in the afternoon, he crosses the road that separates the sea from the kitchen, where his wife is preheating the oven. With a smell of salt in his chest, he stops in front of his door before entering. Around him, he sees that the eight buildings that surrounded his are now in ruins.
He touches the wall of his house, where he was born and where he wants to die. These walls have been erected since the 19th century and are made of the same oyster stone that covers the hulls of other seaside towns. Like Cadiz. Before going out the door with the day’s catch, he greets a neighbor who is passing by: “No one can take care of you, can they?” he says to the sailor?
Yaafar al-Samra, a fisherman from Tyre, returns home to the city’s old quarter after fishing.
The town of Jaafar is empty. Most residents have fled in recent weeks to areas of Lebanon considered safer. Joseph, the shipyard in the port of Tyre, made boats for Jaafar and hundreds of other fishermen. “There is no one left, only those of us who have no choice but to stay”said this older Christian man.
Joseph wonders what could happen to get Israel to stop bombing his city. “Nothing. “It seems that it is already too late for a solution that does not involve war.”he admits. His workshop is crowned by a portrait of a Lebanese army commander, but the shipyard does not believe that neither they nor UNIFIL – the UN mission in southern Lebanon – can stop the Israelis: “The peacekeepers do nothingthey are useless. “They are here drinking, eating well and stealing our women,” he jokes.
Joseph shows his frustration after the most difficult days for South Lebanon and UNIFIL since 2006, when the mission renewed its role under Security Council Resolution 1701. Approved after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Project 1701 tasks UNIFIL with helping the Lebanese army keep the entire south of the country free of weapons, from the border with Israel in the south to the Litani River. to the north.
From 2006 to October 7, 2023, “there were violations of the territory by the IDF and weapons [de Hezbolá] in the south,” admits the UNIFIL spokesperson to EL ESPAÑOL, Andrea Tenenti. However, “we were on the right track towards a long-term solution. Over the past 18 years, southern Lebanon has experienced one of the quietest periods in its recent history,” adds Tenenti.
Photo of a baby and a broken doll lying in the rubble of a bombed building in Tyre, southern Lebanon.
Everything changed on October 7. Following Hamas’ attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, the Shiite militia Hezbollah joined its Palestinian partners and opened fire on the neighboring country from its positions in southern Lebanon.
Alongside the war in Gaza, Israel is also waging a fierce fight on its northern border against Hezbollah. On October 1, this fighting escalated into a ground invasion by the Israel Defense Forces.
Today, after a year with the Blue Helmets practically paralyzed, UNIFIL has just experienced its worst week: Zionist army opens fire on UN bases in Lebanon four of the last seven days. The latest attack took place on Wednesday, when a tank fired on the international force’s watchtower in Kfarkela.
Now that UNIFIL’s lack of competence is evident, Joseph’s disappointment is common in central Tyre. Even if the general feeling among the Lebanese is that the presence of the Blue Helmets is positive.
Joseph Barbour, shipbuilder from the port of Tyre, poses in his workshop in front of the portrait of a commander in the Lebanese army.
In recent weeks, the mission has been limited to “informing the Security Council and helping the local population who remain stuck in villages without their basic needs being met.” I must say that it has been difficult because carrying out these activities while ensuring the safety of our troops has been a real challenge,” says Tenenti. The mission’s spokesperson nevertheless proudly affirms the Security Council’s decision to keep the troops deployed: “We remain”.
But aid distribution is not even smooth in southern Lebanon. As in Gaza, Israel blocks humanitarian operations. According to Tenenti, the goal is “to guarantee the security of the convoys, even if we cannot do it 100% because the IDF will always say that it cannot ensure the security of the troops.” On Tuesday we were able to transport two aid trucks and mattresses, blankets, water, food and other things to the Marjayún area, where most of the Spanish troops are precisely stationed.
“Algo se está moviendo, pero de forma muy limitada y no tanto como nos gustaría”, reconoce el portavoz de la Finul.
Pese a todo, Andrea Tenenti no ve el impasse actual como un fracaso de la Finul. “Nuestro éxito no debe medirse sólo por lo que hemos hecho nosotros, sino también por cómo la misión ha conseguido que las dos partes se comprometan”, sostiene, refiriéndose a Israel y a Hezbolá.
Sitio del bombardeo de ocho casas en el casco antiguo de Tiro, en el sur del Líbano.
Edgar Gutiérrez para El Español
“Entre 2006 y el 7 de octubre [de 2023] We have led the Lebanese army to deploy more troops in the south and progress has been made in demarcating the Blue Line – the 2006 armistice line which, in the absence of a formal border, divides Lebanon and Israel. We were on the right path to a long-term solution. We had meetings every month with the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces. It was the only opportunity to bring the two armies together to defuse the conflict and avoid dangerous misunderstandings. That’s how the mission worked until October last year, when everything blew up and we were back where we started,” he admits.
