Members of the local Lebanese community say their family members still in Lebanon are facing extreme conditions as Israel’s military offensive against Hezbollah militants continues.
The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel last October in support of Hamas after its fighters stormed into Israel. Lebanon says a total of 1,540 people have been killed within its borders in that time.
In an interview with CNN Thursday, Lebanese Health Minister Dr. Firass Abiad accused Israel of “indiscriminate attacks on civilians.”
Hiba Fawaz lived in Lebanon until five years ago, but lives in Boston now. Fawaz says this is the worst violence her family has dealt with since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
She said that her family, including her parents, aunts and uncles, had to flee north from their town in the south to Beirut amid the violence, navigating dangerous roads to reach the nation’s capital. The route approximately takes an hour on normal days, but with most people heading towards the same area, the route took Fawaz’s family an entire day.
Fawaz said her family is not trying to escape the country — they just want to go home.
“My parents have no interest at all to leave Lebanon. I mean, it’s their country. That’s where their home is,” she said. “They’re actually hoping at some point very soon, they all go back to their homes.”
One local woman whose family lives in Lebanon spoke to GBH News and asked for anonymity because she fears Israeli retribution. She is concerned that people in the U.S. aren’t grasping the amount of loss. She said “it’s like our lives don’t matter, we’re just numbers.”
Sarah, a Cambridge resident, grew up in the U.S. and took turns traveling to Lebanon with her siblings in an effort by her parents to keep their culture alive. Her oldest sister Hanan decided to stay in West Bekaa after she graduated and got a job working with Syrian refugees. GBH News is not using the family’s last name to protect family members still in Lebanon.
“Apparently [the Israelis] told them to evacuate and go towards Beirut, to be safe,” Sarah said. “And then they started bombing the roads there, which, you know, sounds familiar. That’s what they did in Palestine.”
She fears that no place in Lebanon is truly safe, especially because of its size. Lebanon is about the same size as Connecticut.
Sarah says she’s worried that the war might sever all of her ties to the country. Hanan is now trying to leave the country; she fears the family home will be destroyed; and with her sister trying to leave, they had to give away their family dog.
“You know, it’s almost like they take things from you slowly before, like really taking things from you,” she said.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.
