PERSONAL: 'Even in Beirut, there is an atmosphere of war,' says Lebanese displaced from southern Lebanon

Record ID: 1844041

  • Title: PERSONAL: 'Even in Beirut, there is an atmosphere of war,' says Lebanese displaced from southern Lebanon
  • Date: 25th September 2024
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (SEPTEMBER 24, 2024) (REUTERS) PEOPLE OUTSIDE SCHOOL-TURNED-SHELTER HOUSING DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM SOUTHERN LEBANON VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING AT SCHOOL PLAYGROUND VARIOUS OF 63-YEAR-OLD LEBANESE WOMAN , SOUAD MAHDE, WHO FLED HER HOMETOWN OF QSAIBEH IN SOUTHERN LEBANON, WITH ANOTHER WOMAN REGISTERING MAHDE'S INFORMATION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) 63-YEAR-OLD LEBA
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2024 09:00
  • Keywords: Hezbollah Israel Lebanon Palestinians
  • Location: Beirut, LEBANON
  • City: Beirut, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
  • Reuters ID: LVA001668725092024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Souad Mahde, a 63-year-old woman who fled her hometown of Qsaibeh in southern Lebanon's Nabatieh district, says she cannot wait for the situation to calm down so she can head back home.
    A mother of five, Mahde arrived to Beirut on Monday night (September 23) with one of her daughters and her grandchildren, and was later joined by her husband the next day.
    "Our way out was very slow, the traffic was horrible. It was torture and hardship but you could say one doesn't give up on his life easily," said Mahde.
    "One no longer cares about things like the house and other small things, no one thinks about that, because fear takes control at such a moment, one wants to get out alive," she added.
    Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said. In Beirut, thousands of people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.
    Lebanon's Hezbollah said its fighters had fired a rocket targeting the Mossad spy agency headquarters near Tel Aviv on Wednesday (September 25), an escalation in the conflict with Israel that moved the arch-foes closer to full-fledged war.
    The Israeli military has been carrying out its heaviest air strikes of the conflict this week, targeting Hezbollah leaders and hitting hundreds of targets deep inside Lebanon.
    Since Monday morning, the Israeli offensive has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.
    (Production: Emilie Madi, Mai Shams El-Din)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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