The Lebanese worry that nowhere is safe amid widespread Israeli bombing

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Fears grew across Lebanon on Monday after Israel launched an attack on an apartment building in central Beirut, marking a new escalation in a devastating bombing campaign that local authorities say has killed more than 1,000 people.

“There is no guarantee of a safe place in Lebanon,” said Jihan Kaisi, executive director of the Union of Relief and Development Association, an organization helping displaced people across the country.

“There is no guarantee of a safe place in Lebanon,” said Jihan Kaisi, executive director of the Union of Relief and Development Association, an organization helping displaced people across the country.

According to the Prime Minister of Lebanon, as many as 1 million people have been driven from their homes as a result of the recent acts of violence.

“The Cola area is full of families, and the displaced families came to the area thinking it was safe,” Kaisi told NBC News after the Israeli attack hit a building in a densely populated area of ​​the city just a stone’s throw from downtown Beirut.

“We were shocked that this area was bombed,” she said of the strike, which appeared to mark Israel’s first attack on the center of the capital since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Palestinian militant group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said early Monday morning that three of its members were killed in a strike in downtown Beirut, where aid workers said many civilians had sought refuge, believing the center of the Lebanese capital was safe from Israeli bombing.

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The target building was severely damaged on two floors, with vehicle windows shattered outside and debris scattered across the street. Residents hurriedly cleaned shop windows, some using brooms, others with their bare hands.

Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, an Israeli official told NBC News that Israeli forces had launched small special forces operations ahead of a potential ground offensive.

The official said the operations were aimed at gathering intelligence and surveying Hezbollah positions, although he cautioned that the sorties have been ongoing for months and do not necessarily signal an imminent ground attack.

Washington continued to urge no further escalation as part of efforts to avoid all-out war in the region.

Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to ensure the safe return and long-term security of communities in northern Israel that have been displaced from their homes during nearly a year of escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that has vowed to continue attacks on Israel until it ends the war in Gaza.

Last year, thousands of families in southern Lebanon were also displaced from their homes due to cross-border attacks.

Israel’s air campaign in Lebanon has killed more than 1,000 people so far, according to the Lebanese health ministry, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack on Friday, sending shock waves across the region and Iran vowing revenge.

Sleeping on the streets

Meanwhile, as many as a million people have been displaced from their homes, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said, and a growing number of families are forced to create makeshift shelters on streets and beaches, while images emerging from southern Lebanon show growing destruction in areas once inhabited by civilians.

Fatima, 32, who gave birth to a baby just a few days ago, said she and her family fled the south to downtown Beirut for the weekend in the hope that they will find safety there. However, after struggling to find shelter, she said they were forced to sleep on the street.

“It was terrible,” said Fatima, who asked that her name not be published because of concerns for her safety. “I can’t feed my baby because he’s constantly crying,” she said, adding that she also felt pain and was afraid that the surgical wound after the cesarean section had become infected.

“I need medical help and we are waiting to see which shelter will accept us and maybe we will get some help and food,” she said.

“Look at our situation” – Nayef Fouani, who along with hundreds of others took shelter in the Azarieh shopping mall in Beirut. “We had dinner. There’s still food on the table,” he said of having to suddenly flee his home in the city’s southern suburbs.

“Well, we’re all going to die eventually,” he said.

“There’s No Safe Place”

Kaisi, executive director of URDA, said aid workers were “shocked” by the Coke strike.

Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, where she is currently based, Kaisi said civilians displaced by Israeli airstrikes and hiding in the city of Saida (Sidon) were also terrified after a deadly airstrike in the area on Sunday. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday’s strike.

Kaisi said thousands of families took refuge in Saida, believing they were safe there, and many of them sought refuge in overcrowded schools turned into shelters, while others had no choice but to sleep on the streets, parking lots and school playgrounds.

She also said she feared what could happen to them if Israel’s bombing campaign did not end, with a growing number of people expressing fears that Lebanon could eventually become like Gaza, where more than 41,500 people have been killed during a nearly year-long offensive Israel’s enclave in Syria.

“There is talk that Lebanon may find itself in the same situation,” she said. “Families are afraid.”