‘Where to go?’

Israeli strikes displace thousands in east Lebanon
AFP, Deir Al-Ahmar
In the Christian town of Deir al-Ahmar, Hassan Noun has pitched his tent in a church courtyard after fleeing Israeli air strikes in the eastern Lebanese region of Baalbek.
“We need shelter -- soon there will be snow and rain. Where will these children find refuge?” said the grey-bearded father of five.
Uprooted from Baalbek, he is one of around 30,000 people seeking safety in and around Deir al-Ahmar, one of the Christian towns so far spared from the Israeli bombing of Hezbollah strongholds, which are predominantly in traditionally Shiite Muslim areas.
“We gather in front of churches and schools, which no longer have the capacity to accommodate us,” Noun said, referring to schools now serving as shelters.
Behind him on an old church bench, his family placed their teapot and kitchen utensils. A plastic mat was spread on the stone floor.
Everywhere, the thin foam mattresses used by the displaced were set aside, some propped up against the door of the church perched atop a hill overlooking Bekaa Valley farms.
Towels and sweatshirts dried alongside other laundry, draped over a wall or hung from ropes strung between the church columns.
Inside a minibus, the few possessions of a family were piled up on worn leather seats -- more mattresses, water bottles and backpacks stuffed with belongings.
‘NO HEATING’
Fatima, 17, fled her village of Chaath because of the bombardments.
At school in Bechouat, near Deir al-Ahmar, her family camps under an improvised tent -- several desks pushed together and topped with blankets for a semblance of privacy.
“There’s no heating, we don’t have warm clothes,” said the teen, her face framed by a black headscarf.
“We are losing our school year. We can’t study because of the war.”
Randa Amhaz expressed gratitude to the school for opening its doors, but she also had her concerns.
“Children need warm clothes, and the elderly need medicine,” she said.
Since September 23, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,900 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally based on figures from Lebanon’s health ministry.
On Friday alone, 52 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the Baalbek-Hermel region of eastern Lebanon, the ministry said.
More than 78,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the district, according to the International Organization for Migration.