By Samaa Abu Sharar

Despite a brewing humanitarian crisis in south Lebanon, Lebanese and Palestinians alike are standing shoulder to shoulder to cope with another brutal Israeli war. Samaa Abu Sharar reports for the Palestine Chronicle from Beirut.

Beirut – Hisham Youssef has already escaped death twice since the Israeli raid on the southern district of Beirut on September 20. 

He is also twice displaced in less than a week. 

A resident of Al-Dahieh, the name used by Lebanese in reference to the southern district of Beirut, Hisham has a mobile phone shop that is meters away from where the raid took place on Friday. 

Following the explosion, he told the Palestine Chronicle in a trembling voice, “I am losing my nerves,” while explaining that the strike took place in the street behind his family shop. 

Hisham, along with his siblings decided at that point to evacuate their homes in Al-Dahieh until things settle down.

They headed to their village Yohmor in the Bekaa Valley where their parents live, thinking that it would be a safe haven for a few days.

Sadly, Yohmor was one of Israel’s targets on Monday’s unprecedented raids in various parts of Lebanon. 

According to Hisham, five or six people were killed in their village alone.

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Unprecedented Raids

558 people were killed and 1,835 others injured, including women, children, and paramedics in Monday’s Israeli attacks across Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

With the concentration of Israeli raids on the south of Lebanon and Bekaa, the whole family decided to evacuate once again; this time to Dawhet Aramoun, in the Aley district of Mount Lebanon.

“A relative of ours who is traveling offered us his apartment, the whole family is gathered there for the time being,” Hisham said.

Hisham’s story is one of thousands of Lebanese who fled their cities, towns and villages in the south of Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley to presumably safer areas. 

Thousands of Lebanese from the south crowded the highways for hours yesterday, some heading to the southern city of Sidon and its surrounding areas, and others to Beirut with no clear destination in mind.

Many spent their first night of displacement in their cars on the streets while others were luckier to hastily find a hotel reservation or an apartment to rent. 

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Solidarity between Two People

Iman Sabbah, a resident of Saida, told the Palestine Chronicle that the city became “an operation center” for people who plan on staying there, or head to Beirut. 

“People spent hours in their cars, so many locals volunteered to distribute water or snacks for those stuck in their vehicles,” Sabbah explained.

Footage emerged of the Palestinian youth from the Ein Al-Helweh camp distributing water to people in their cars, in a sign of solidarity between the two people.

This went hand in hand with announcements emanating from residents of the various Palestinian camps across Lebanon offering their homes to displaced Lebanese. 

Sabbah told the Palestine Chronicle that her cousin left Nabatieh around one in the afternoon and reached Beirut at 12:45 pm due to the heavy traffic on the highway that connects Saida to the capital. 

“It was heartbreaking to see this huge wave of displaced people in the streets. There was much panic and chaos among the people,” Sabbah added.

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In the absence of a real official emergency plan, it was the individual and small organizations’ efforts that came to the rescue of the displaced Lebanese, according to the Sidon resident.

“We received many appeals yesterday for items like food and blankets with displaced people shivering from the cold at night,” Sabbah said.

Several appeals popped up on WhatsApp groups as well requesting help. 

“My family is cut off in Sidon, (their car came to a complete stop just) before the market. I just want someone to bring them water because the car has overheated,” someone wrote, providing his mother’s number and urging anyone who can help not to hesitate.  

Emergency Shelters

The Lebanese government opened shelters for the displaced in schools, universities and other public establishments in what was labeled as a “contingency plan”. 

The ‘contingency plan’ was widely criticized as the Lebanese felt that it was inadequate and did not meet the huge needs of the displaced people considering that the government had sufficient time to prepare for it.

“They bombed the area on top of my parents’ house in a village called Almat,” Mohammed Abi Haidar told the Palestine Chronicle in reference to one of the villages in the Jbeil district in the Mount Lebanon governorate.

The Lebanese accountant said that a flow of displaced people flooded Jbeil following the Israeli attack. 

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“Some headed to apartments they own, others were hosted by people”, Abi Haidar said.

According to Abi Haidar, the Lebanese resistance party Hezbollah provided mattresses and other aid to displaced Lebanese along with the municipalities. 

“There was a general mood of solidarity amongst people but God help us if this continues because there is already a flood of displaced people and if this continues I don’t know how the problem of displacement will be solved,” he added.

The streets of Beirut, one day after the raids of Monday, are still crowded with the cars of people not knowing where to go.

Since Monday, a number of hotels in the capital Beirut circulated discount prices for the displaced Lebanese while announcements of vacant apartments for rent spread around heavily on the different social media outlets.

Rumors circulated as well that certain Lebanese parties forced some hotels to open their doors for refugees from around the country. 

Since Monday, cars have jammed gas stations around the country in fear of a petrol shortage since no one can predict how long the ongoing Israeli aggression might last.

Bringing back memories of past Israeli wars on Lebanon, the supermarkets are packed with people trying to buy whatever they can get their hands on, with some people already complaining that there is a shortage of bread. 

While the Israeli aggression continues in Lebanon, the Lebanese people along with all residents of this small country live in anticipation of what the next hours might bring. 

The scenes of death, destruction and displacement are a stark reminder to many of the scenes that continue to come out of ravaged Gaza. 

Despite repeated statements by Lebanese officials and the Lebanese resistance itself that Lebanon does not want an all-out war,  the Lebanese people know Israel too well. 

(The Palestine Chronicle)