Residents of Beirut, Dahieh Plan to Evacuate Homes if War with Israel Erupts

A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
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Residents of Beirut, Dahieh Plan to Evacuate Homes if War with Israel Erupts

A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)
A large banner shows slain Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and a vow to avenge his killing. (AFP)

Israel’s assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut’s southern suburbs of Dahieh has prompted the residents of the area to seek safe haven in regions in case of the eruption of a broader war with Israel.

They have sought to rent apartments in regions such as Bhamdoun, Baabda and Aley - in a form of “temporary displacement” - where they can wait for the latest tensions to blow over.

Some people have been lucky enough to find apartments that they had previously used as summer lodging, while others are looking for furnished apartments as temporary refuge.

Tensions soured last week in wake of Shukr’s assassination and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate, raising fears that Israel could respond to any attack by targeting Beirut and Hezbollah’s stronghold of Dahieh.

Reina, 51, a resident of Ain al-Rummaneh near Dahieh, said she has taken the decision to move to Bhamdoun throughout August in anticipation of any escalation.

“I won’t venture by going down to Beirut. Maybe Israel would strike roads and bridges like it did in 2006. We can do without more tensions,” she said.

Israel and Hezbollah waged a 33-day war in July 2006 during which the later targeted Dahieh and the South – another Hezbollah stronghold. It also destroyed roads and bridges throughout Lebanon, as well as attacked Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, putting it out of service.

On Wednesday, Nour, 26, a resident of Dahieh, began searching for a furnished apartment to rent for her and her family in the Baabda and Aley regions that are close to Beirut suburbs.

She said she has searched tirelessly online for the right apartment. “Some large apartments are available, but the conditions for renting them are ridiculous,” she told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Rent has tripled with apartments going for 1,200 dollars a month,” she added. She said that she understood that rent would skyrocket with the high demand, but owners are making impossible conditions, such as asking for an advance payment worth six months' rent, amid a stifling economic crisis in Lebanon.

“We don’t have that kind of money. If the war were to stop within a month or two, then we would have lost thousands of dollars,” she went on to say.

Other options at the people’s disposal are offers from friends to stay over in regions that they believe are safe from Israel should a full-scale war erupt.

Another option is staying in hotels or vacation homes in areas deemed safe, said Nada, a resident of the South and mother of one.

“No one will say no to you if you have the money. You will pay for your safety,” she added.

She revealed that she spoke to the owner of a vacation rental in the Batroun region north of Beirut where she had previously stayed. He promised her that he would give her priority to rent the place should the need arise.

For people who have the financial means, seeking temporary safe haven is not a challenge. But for those whose earnings barely help them get by day by day, leaving home is not an option.

“We don’t want to be humiliated. We will not seek refuge in schools,” a resident of Dahieh told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Our home protects us. Any displacement will humiliate us; we are praying to God to spare us from this,” he added.



Gazan Child Amputee Dreams Big after Evacuation to Qatar

Mahmoud Ajjour, an injured child evacuated from Gaza, sits at home with his mother as she teaches him to write using his feet, in Doha, Qatar, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Purchase Licensing Rights
Mahmoud Ajjour, an injured child evacuated from Gaza, sits at home with his mother as she teaches him to write using his feet, in Doha, Qatar, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Purchase Licensing Rights
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Gazan Child Amputee Dreams Big after Evacuation to Qatar

Mahmoud Ajjour, an injured child evacuated from Gaza, sits at home with his mother as she teaches him to write using his feet, in Doha, Qatar, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Purchase Licensing Rights
Mahmoud Ajjour, an injured child evacuated from Gaza, sits at home with his mother as she teaches him to write using his feet, in Doha, Qatar, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Purchase Licensing Rights

Evacuated to Qatar from the chaos of Gaza, nine-year-old Palestinian Mahmoud Youssef Ajjour still dreams of becoming a pilot one day despite losing his arms in an Israeli rocket attack.

In a small apartment in Doha, Ajjour's mother slowly eases him into his uniform to help him get ready for school. It will take some time to fit him with artificial limbs.

The rocket hit as he was walking away from his Gaza home in December with his father and mother, he said.

"I was lying on the ground, I didn't know what hit me, I didn't know that I lost my arms" Reuters quoted Ajjour as saying.

He was operated on in Gaza with limited anaesthetic, waking up from the operation in great pain and with his arms gone, his mother said.

Yet he is one of the lucky ones, escaping the shattered territory, where many hospitals have been destroyed and doctors say they often have to perform surgery without any anaesthetic and pain killers.

Qatar has taken in some injured Gazans for treatment as it tries to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas along with the United States and Egypt that would see the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and some Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. There is still no sign of agreement.

Ajjour longs for Gaza, which was vibrant before the conflict despite widespread poverty and high unemployment in what was one of the world's most densely populated places.

His home was destroyed in the Israeli offensive triggered by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

The offensive has killed at least 41,118 Palestinians and wounded 95,125, according to the Gaza health ministry. Nearly two million people have been displaced and the territory has become a wasteland.

"I want Gaza to be beautiful again," Ajjour says.

At the long-established Palestinian School in Doha, he sits patiently while his classmates write things down and raises his voice alongside them as they answer a teacher's questions.

The school psychologist, Hanin Al Salamat, sees in him a source of inspiration. "He gives us strength," she says.

He refuses to let physical limitations define him.

"I will keep trying everything," he says with conviction. "I will become a pilot, and I will play soccer with my friends."