Since the start of the escalation on the border with Israel, Elie Rmeih has become accustomed to the bombings on his city in southern Lebanon. But he has never been as afraid as during the night from Thursday to Friday, when the Israeli army struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets simultaneously.
“Everything was normal, the children were sleeping until the raids started in the middle of the night,” said Mr. Rmeih, owner of a clothing store in Marjayoun, a Christian town about ten kilometers from the border with Israel.
“I counted more than 50 raids and I almost went crazy,” adds the 45-year-old, so “I took my children and went to a friend’s house” to keep them safe.
“I counted more than 50 raids and I almost went crazy,” said a resident of the town of Marjayoun, overcome by fear.
“We’ve never seen such explosions before,” said the father, whose town, which has been relatively spared from the violence, has nonetheless been living to the rhythm of daily explosions for almost a year.
“Constant anxiety”
On Thursday evening, Israel stepped up its air raids in southern Lebanon, saying it had targeted Hezbollah rocket launchers and struck “around 100 launchers” and other infrastructure “representing around 1,000 cannons.”
Photos and videos captured Thursday evening by AFP journalists in several regions of southern Lebanon show fireballs lighting up the sky during these intense airstrikes.
The explosions resonated in the vicinity of several nearby towns.
Panic gripped many residents, including Noha Abdo, a 62-year-old housewife living with her family in Marjayoun.
“I was very scared, especially for my grandchildren. They were being moved from one room to another,” she told AFP, adding, “War is terrifying.”
“We live in constant anxiety and fear of the war spreading,” says Mr. Rmeih, “if it does, where will we go?”
“Uncontrollable”
On October 8, 2023, Iran-backed Hezbollah opened the southern Lebanese front against Israel, “in support” of Palestinian Hamas, its ally, in its war against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions rose further on Tuesday and Wednesday when hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Lebanese Islamist movement exploded across Lebanon in an unprecedented attack that killed 37 people and injured nearly 3,000.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Thursday that his party had suffered an “unprecedented” blow, promising a “terrible” response to the spectacular attack attributed to Israel.
In the village of Zawtar Charqiyeh, near the border with Israel, residents recount their night of “terror.”
Zeina Harb, 30, a schoolteacher who has never left her village despite the violence for nearly a year, said “the raids were strange, both in the intensity and the smoke” they gave off.
“We are trying to control our nerves despite the great anxiety we felt when the news came and the warnings about phones exploding and rumors circulating,” she said.
“I hope that the war will not spread and that it will end as soon as possible.”