‘This is wrong,’ says Lebanese citizen as hundreds of thousands flee amid Israeli strikes
Israeli airstrikes continued to pound Lebanon on Friday, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in densely populated areas and seek shelter elsewhere, as aid agencies warned that the escalating conflict could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
“We sleep here on the streets – some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” said Jamal Seifeddin, 43, who spent the night outside the capital city.
“Not even a blanket.”
Areas south of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, were hit again by Israeli airstrikes on Friday as they traded blows with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
After the US and Israeli attacks against Iran last week, Hezbollah on Monday launched missiles and drones at Israel for the first time in more than a year. Israel retaliated by bombing southern Lebanon and areas south of Beirut.
At least 217 people have died and hundreds more have been injured, said the Ministry of Health in Lebanon.
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Hadi Kaakour, a resident who was fleeing areas south of Beirut, said he was not sure he would be safe anywhere.
“We don’t put anything aside [Israel]they will beat us no matter where we go,” he said.
Others expressed frustration at Lebanon’s involvement in the war.
“We got into a mess that we had nothing to do with,” said Yousef Nabulsi, another resident who fled the area.
“People were evicted and now they live on the streets, and this is not right.”
The Israeli army on Thursday ordered Lebanese citizens to evacuate areas south of Beirut, including areas controlled by Hezbollah, and parts of the eastern Bekaa Valley, after ordering people to evacuate southern Lebanon.
It was Israel’s most extensive evacuation order from Lebanon and prompted an exodus from the south before the bombardment reduced buildings to rubble, removed roofs from apartments and destroyed roads.
“It’s panicking right now,” Bachir Ayoub, Oxfam Lebanon country director, told CBC News.
He said about a third of the country was now under evacuation orders and many of those who tried to flee on Thursday were trapped in their cars for up to six hours due to the severity.
There is “great fatigue” among the evacuees, “for the second or third time within 14 months of being deported,” he said, referring to the previous wave of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in 2024.
The US and Israel-Iran war has spilled over into Lebanon, with airstrikes on the capital Beirut and Israeli ground forces moving into the south. The Israel Defense Forces are urging the evacuation of civilians from the districts, as they step up bombings against Hezbollah, a militant group and Iran’s proxy based in Lebanon.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Nawaf Salam, has appealed to the international community to help stop the Israeli attack.
“A humanitarian crisis is coming” because of mass displacement, Salam said, speaking to heads of delegations in Beirut on Friday.
Sam criticized both Israel and Hezbollah, saying the Lebanese country and people “did not choose this war.”
(Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)
Similarly, the aid organization Save the Children has warned that evicting some 500,000 people from south Beirut could lead to a humanitarian crisis.
“Forcible evictions deprive children of almost everything that keeps them safe: shelter, education, community and routine,” the NGO’s regional director Ahmad Alhendawi said in a statement.
“Forced migration without guarantees of safety or return and without providing for social needs would be a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
Imran Riza, the United Nations’ coordinator in Lebanon, said around 100,000 people had fled to shelters on Friday – although the number is expected to rise rapidly due to the “unprecedented” rate of the exodus.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Thursday that the areas south of Beirut, where Hezbollah is strong, will look like the city in the Gaza Strip that Israel flattened during its war with Hamas.
“You wanted to bring hell upon us, we are bringing hell upon you,” Smotrich said while looking at the towns on the border between Israel and Lebanon. “Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis, and the citizens of the north will live in peace and quiet.”
Riza, with the UN, said more than a million people were displaced from Lebanon during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel, 75 to 80 percent of whom were not in shelters.
“This time again, the majority will not be in shelters likely,” he said.
The Lebanese army retreated from the border as the Israeli army moved in, and Hezbollah issued a series of statements announcing attacks on Israeli soldiers who tried to advance.
Hezbollah, in a message published in Hebrew on its Telegram channel early Friday, warned Israelis to evacuate towns within five kilometers of the border.
“The violence of your army against the sovereignty of Lebanon and the safe citizens, the destruction of the infrastructure of the people and the campaign of displacement that it is carrying out will not go unchallenged,” it said.
No casualties were reported in Israel as a result of the Hezbollah attack.
During the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2024, tens of thousands of Israelis were displaced from towns in the border area but many have since returned. Israeli officials have said there are no immediate plans to remove them.
