- ADDABBAOUSIYEH (northern
Lebanese border) (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?"
-
- (c)2006 Dahr Jamail.
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