Feature: Residents flee southern Lebanon amid escalating Israeli strikes

BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Laila Moussa, a 50-year-old mother of four from Lebanon’s eastern village of Qaraoun, was in a deep sleep when a huge explosion triggered by an Israeli raid shook her home and shattered the window glass in every direction.
“My children screamed, and I felt dizzy and lost my balance,” Moussa recalled the night in a low, exhausted voice.
With the electricity being cut off and the smoke and dust spreading everywhere, Moussa had no idea where to go for safety amid the continued strikes.
“A few difficult minutes passed before I regained my strength. I then moved my children to the kitchen corner, waiting for dawn to flee from the terrifying scene,” she said.
In the past few days, confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel escalated after the latter announced a shift in military focus from the Gaza Strip to the northern front, aiming to fight against Hezbollah until the safe home return of its northern residents.
Israel’s recent military escalation since Monday has resulted in over 650 deaths, more than 2,000 injuries, displacement of many others, and damage to thousands of houses and commercial and industrial establishments across Lebanon.
UN humanitarians warned on Thursday that the ongoing violence in Lebanon had forced more than 90,000 people from their homes, with 70,000 cramming into 400 schools and other sites, leading to the largest displacement since the onset of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict on Oct. 8, 2023.
Aisha Hamdan, a mother of three from the Maroun al-Ras village, had to flee after her place of residence became a battlefield. “We left everything behind us and drove our private car into the unknown without specifying a destination,” she told Xinhua.
“We spent a rough night in the car. The next morning, we were directed to a school in the Choueifat area, where we met about 500 other displaced families,” she said.
Adel Farran, another displaced person from the Kfar Kila village, said 80 percent of houses in his village were destroyed, and the rest were uninhabitable.
“We spent about 10 hours on the road until we reached the town of Rashaya,” he said, noting that the trip normally takes less than 45 minutes.
“Our hearts are bleeding. We lost almost everything,” he said.
Talal Halabi, a coordinator at the Lebanese Red Cross, told Xinhua, “We are making great efforts to alleviate the suffering of the displaced by providing them with mattresses, water, cleaning materials, and food bags.”
He continued, “We also struggle to enable doctors to conduct examinations and provide free medication, especially for patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, and difficult cases that require special care.” ■