The people of Lebanon grapple with the fear of war.

On July 27, Loubna El-Amine, 40, was waiting to board a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, from her family home in the United Kingdom. Upon boarding, El-Amine learned that a shell had killed 12 Druze children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel claimed responsibility for the attack, but the group denied any involvement.

Fearing Israel's reaction, El-Amine discussed with her husband whether they should bring their three children along. A short time later, they boarded the plane.

Shortly after their arrival in Beirut, Israel assassinated one of Hezbollah's top commanders, Fuad Shukr, in an airstrike on a residential building in the Dahiyeh district south of Beirut. They then killed Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Iran, during the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Both assassinations pushed the region to the brink of a full-scale war. Iran and Hezbollah have both vowed retaliation against Israel, possibly through a coordinated attack with other Iranian-allied armed groups in the region.

Fears of a major war forced El-Amine and her husband to cut short their trip and book a flight to Türkiye on August 10th, while some commercial flights still had available seats.

"Even without direct danger, we have to think about whether we really want our children to experience this level of stress," El-Amine shared.

Beirut is concerned about an impending war, but many people say they have no plans to leave Lebanon. Photo: AFP

Stress and fear

El-Amine is one of millions of Lebanese civilians grappling with life-or-death decisions while worrying about the possibility of a major conflict with Israel engulfing their country, which has a population of less than 6 million and lies north of Israel.

Many people are trying to live through each day in fear of a larger conflict looming, but still cling to a faint hope that regional tensions will not escalate.

"The tension this time seems different. But part of me hopes that there might be a ceasefire tomorrow, somehow," El-Amine said.

Amidst the escalating tensions, many Lebanese civilians view the West's continued support for Israel as a moral failure, and they are reluctant to flee to Europe or North America. Majd Akaar, a 36-year-old software engineer in Beirut, said, "I feel very wrong to leave now, as if I'm abandoning Lebanon and my people."

Akaar admitted he was somewhat worried about what might happen to Lebanon in a regional war. He recounted an incident where, while video calling a friend in southern Lebanon, he suddenly saw a shell fall near his friend's house and explode on the screen.

"I remember only hearing her scream. I was terrified until she called me back 10 minutes later," Akaar recalled.

Passengers whose flights were cancelled wait at the departure terminal of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 5. Photo: AP

Those who chose to stay

At a small bedding and furniture shop on a corner in Hamra, Beirut, Sirine Sinou said her family couldn't leave Lebanon because doing so would mean losing their business.

She added that her husband and two children didn't take major precautions, such as buying food or household supplies in bulk, in case a full-scale war broke out. "We did that during the COVID-19 pandemic and then we threw away a lot of things," she said.

If Israel begins bombing residential areas and civilian structures in Beirut, a strategy Israel calls the "Dahiya doctrine," referring to the Dahiyeh/Dahiya settlement and used in the 2006 war against Hezbollah, then Sinou and her family could flee to their ancestral village in northern Lebanon, far from the capital.

Assad Georges, 21, also said he would stay in his hometown of Zahle, about 55 km from Beirut, if a major conflict broke out. "Nothing too serious is happening in Zahle right now, but we often hear bombs and sonic booms in our western towns," he said.

Georges said that the Lebanese people have been under pressure for months due to escalating tensions. However, he believes a larger conflict is now engulfing Lebanon.

"With the US and UK sending warships to the Israeli coast, it seems they are preparing for something to happen. Now that Israel is almost finished in Gaza, I think their next plan is to try to eliminate Hezbollah," he said.

Hoai Phuong (according to Al Jazeera)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nguoi-dan-lebanon-vat-lon-voi-noi-so-hai-ve-chien-tranh-post306543.html