Fleeing
Lebanese Speak Of Indiscriminate Bombing
By Dahr Jamail
18 July, 2006
Inter Press Service
ADDABBAOUSIYEH (northern Lebanese border), Jul 16 (IPS)
- People fleeing the bombing of Lebanon say the Israelis are targeting
civilian neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure, and not just Hezbollah
centres.
The bombing has killed more
than 100 Lebanese civilians so far.
Several border points between
Syria and Lebanon are being deluged with refugees. Lebanon has a long
border with Syria towards its south, east and north. The refugees include
both Lebanese and tourists.
"Everything is being
bombed," a teacher from the United States who was on vacation in
Beirut told IPS. "It's terror. We've literally been terrorised."
Twenty-five-year-old social
studies teacher Abdul Rahman was living with his family in downtown
Beirut near the United Nations building before they all decided to flee.
"We have not slept for
three days because we were living in terror and never knew when the
Israelis would bomb us since they were hitting everything," he
told IPS.
"If they want to hit
Hezbollah, let them hit Hezbollah, but not the civilians. But civilians
are all that they are hitting."
His mother feared for her
96-year-old father who they had to leave behind. "We cannot move
him because he is too frail," she said. "And now all we can
do is worry, since the Israelis are taking it out on the innocent people."
On Sunday, the Israeli army
also re-entered the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip. According to reports
from Gaza, three members of Hamas were killed after Israeli tanks and
bulldozers entered Beit Hanun town early morning.
Gunfire and shelling by the
Israelis is also reported to have killed a 75-year-old woman and wounded
10 others, along with a baby.
Israel launched several air
strikes in Gaza as well. An Israeli army spokeswoman claimed they destroyed
a Hamas operations room in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Israel's stated goal in Gaza
is to free a soldier captured by Hamas. So far Israeli actions there
have left one Israeli soldier dead, along with 82 Palestinians.
Hamas is demanding the release
of prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for the Israeli soldier.
Israel is now embroiled in
fighting on two fronts. The impact of the fighting with Lebanon is being
felt widely in Syria.
Abud Aziz, a 31-year-old
Lebanese pastry chef from Beirut crossed the border into Syria carrying
his suitcase and looking for food and water. There had been no water
or electricity in Beirut since Saturday, he said.
"Yesterday I saw two
hospitals bombed," he told IPS. "Nobody who remains in Beirut
can be safe. No way."
A 25-year-old construction
worker named Hamed also said he saw warplanes bomb a hospital in Beirut.
"I saw them bomb a hospital
yesterday," he told IPS. "I left just hours ago. They are
bombing everything -- houses, casinos, fuel stations and so many bridges."
Meanwhile, on Sunday Hezbollah
fired more than 20 rockets into the city of Haifa, Israel's third largest
city, killing eight and wounding at least a dozen.
The Hezbollah clearly have
the means to strike back at Israel. They are a well-armed and well-organised
political and military group of Shia Muslims in Lebanon. Sustained military
attacks by the Hezbollah forced Israel to vacate southern Lebanon in
May 2000.
But the Hezbollah are not
supported by all Lebanese. About 60 percent of the 3.8 million population
of Lebanon is Muslim, most of them Shia. This is where Hezbollah draws
its support.
The rest of the population
is almost all Christian. A 15-year civil war between Muslim and Christian
groups ended in 1991. The Hezbollah are believed to draw more support
from outside the country than from many within.
In the wake of Hezbollah
strikes into Israel, Israeli authorities have declared a 48-hour period
of martial law over the northern part of the country. Hezbollah groups
have fired more than 400 rockets into Israel, killing at least 16 civilians
in the last five days.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert warned Lebanon of "far-reaching" consequences after
the rocket attacks. The Israeli army said that it had warned all civilians
to leave southern Lebanon.
Many of those who have left
report panic conditions in Lebanon. "The Israelis bombed a bridge
to the airport near us and killed many people," 26-year-old Hasna
told IPS. "When other people went on the bridge to help the wounded,
the planes bombed it again."
Ambulances are usually not
available because of the danger, she said. "We were the last people
to leave our area. The road there was nearly empty."
Alham Aras, a Danish woman
who was vacationing in Tripoli in Lebanon, drove up to the border with
her six children Sunday. She said she had left on instructions from
her embassy.
"The warplanes bombed
the Palestinian camps in Tripoli," she said, "They are attacking
up and down the coast, and the port in Tripoli was also attacked."
Her 14-year-old daughter
Barihan al-Jassim said, "Somebody should stop this madness. How
is it possible for a country to be bombed like this and nobody stops
them from doing it?"