Eyewitness message from Lebanon

Bombings in Beirut - Screenshot

Pat Gaffney, Vice President of Pax Christi, shares a message from a close friend in Lebanon. "Was it only two years ago that I began receiving messages from a dear friend who lives in Lebanon - trapped in her home in Saida - among others who had become victims of Israel's war on Gaza? As news unfolded this week my fears were confirmed. Lebanon is under attack again. My friend and her family, Palestinian British, are re-living their experiences. Her elderly Palestinian parents and some siblings also live in Lebanon but would not be able to leave. War has no boundaries. She has given me permission to share her story.

And here we go again another war on Lebanon! A quieter start of the day so here are our updates. We are still waiting your letter. The flights have been disrupted since Sunday as well as the internal distribution of post from Beirut to Saida. Will just have to wait and see if the situation stabilizes and hope the post arrives soon.

The situation has deteriorated drastically, two massive bombings that shelled down two big buildings in Saida on Wednesday around iftar time. Israeli evacuation orders for towns and villages in south Lebanon continued to increase in number, until yesterday (Thursday) morning when a blanket evacuation order for the whole of the area south of Litani river. Later in the day a blanket evacuation order was issued for the whole of Beirut 's southern suburb which is a massively crowded area. The airport is in that area but there is no evacuation for the airport yet- however the road is very unsafe and has been bombed. The Beirut southern suburb (Dahieh area) evacuation order was issued in a similar way to those in Gaza. The orders direct residents of each area to evacuate in a specific direction on specific main roads whether north or east! Of course, the Beqaa Valley is receiving heavy artillery alongside evacuation orders. The bombings continue to escalate on an unprecedented level simultaneously all over Lebanon's area.

So far geographically only predominantly Shia areas have been bombed heavily and civilians ordered to evacuate. Of course this falls very, very heavily all over the country. Lebanon is only 10,452km2. We hear the non-stop bombings in Beirut Dahieh, the Jezzine mountain area is being bombed, the south areas around Saida too. As usual the humanitarian cost is immense and overwhelming, dozens of villages in the south are still empty and completely on the ground since the last war, so Saida hosts a large number of displaced people. And now with this war, the roads main and peripheral area are blocked with cars passing through Saida towards the east or the north.

Yesterday we went out to cash some money and buy supplies and saw the same scenes as before, of children, women and elderly men sleeping on roadsides and gardens. The UK embassy/FCDO asked us last night to "register your presence" as in provide detailed info, passport numbers etc which I did. I don't know if there will be an opportunity to leave Lebanon, and at such times whether it will be safe for us to reach the airport. The region is boiling like never before. The new government and president have a good (and very different) approach compared to prior set up. There have been great hopes and some positive changes on the ground, mainly strengthening institutionalised good governance and accountability. There seems to be a lot of support for the current set up in Lebanon. Only God can stop the madness in Lebanon and the region. No schools this week. It may be possible to go online next week. No sports clubs for E and L so unlike last war the days are very heavy and full of worry. E started volunteering with the scouts to help at the same school he worked in before. This is used as a refuge for displaced families - and even some of the same families from the last war! Sadly, it looks like the news will continue to be terrible for a while, hopefully it will be a short while. Lots of love and gratitude dear