‘Exhaustion and sadness’ in Beirut’s southern suburbs

BEIRUT – In Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Israeli strikes reduced a building complex to a metal shell, student Rana walked towards her home, though like many others she fears the full-scale eruption of war again.

The Israelis “are not reliable, they can strike again at any moment”, said the young woman, refusing to give her full name.

As though to confirm her fears, Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs again on May 6 – the first there since massive deadly strikes across Lebanon on April 8.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed that one of the group’s commanders was killed in the strike.

“We just want to avoid being displaced again,” said the 20-year-old.

Despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah that began on April 17, Israeli strikes have continued, mainly targeting southern Lebanon, though Beirut and its southern suburbs – where Hezbollah holds sway – had been spared until now.

But even so, many of the tens of thousands of displaced avoided returning to their homes in the suburbs, fearing a sudden resumption of the large-scale strikes that thrashed the area during the latest war.

Hezbollah, which has also continued to claim attacks on Israeli soldiers and territory, has not given residents the green light to return home to the suburbs, where Israeli drones continue to hover.

“It’s a lot of exhaustion and sadness,” Ms Rana told AFP during a press tour organised by Hezbollah.

She described the fight between Hezbollah and Israel as “a battle between good and evil”.

A Hezbollah supporter requesting anonymity meanwhile admitted that “people are still afraid”.

At the start of the war, Israel called for the evacuation of Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have between 600,000 and 800,000 residents.

Some have decided to return nonetheless, including Mr Hassan Moqdad, a 37-year-old mechanic, who said with a smile: “God is the protector.”

Even during the war, he had ventured out to his workshop – one of the few remaining edifices on a devastated road.

“I went back home when the ceasefire started and found light damage,” he said.

The suburb is beautiful

Graffiti on the rubble of one of the destroyed buildings in the area read: “you destroy buildings and we destroy brigades”, referring to Israeli border forces.

Nearby, a placard perched on the wreckage read: “I will make rockets from the metal debris of my destroyed home.”

With his gaze fixed on a roof slumped over a pile of rubble, university lecturer Ibrahim Shukr recalled a bookshop he used to frequent, tears glistening in his eyes.

Having lived in the suburb of Haret Hreik for 35 years, he returned to his flat at the start of the truce and was happy to find it intact.

“I am sad for my neighbour and my friend’s homes,” which were destroyed, he said.

Standing before the rubble of his flattened building, Mr Karim Zein, 19, said he was ready to make any sacrifice for Hezbollah.

“We do not mourn the stone, for it can be rebuilt,” he said, having taken refuge with his sister in south Beirut.

He had ignored Israel’s first mass evacuation warning for the southern suburbs, and only left when there was a specific warning for his building.

He nonetheless said he believed that “even in its destruction, the suburb is beautiful”. AFP