Lebanese exodus intensifies to flee Israeli bombings

To save their lives, families are piling into their cars in Lebanon. Flee, at all costs. After a whole night on the road, some residents have traveled barely 40 kilometers of a journey whose outcome many do not know. “We were surprised in the middle of the night by the bombs”says a woman, who confides that she did not think “manage to escape here”. “We are refugees in our own country”she breathes, in the middle of the monstrous traffic jams.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese are wandering, and the exodus is intensifying. On Monday, September 23, France Télévisions teams visited deserted villages in southern Lebanon. They have been bombed for days by the Israeli army. In these predominantly Shiite villages, Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah positions. Near these localities, a Christian village was spared. But for how long, wonder the inhabitants, who fear a “land invasion” Israeli troops.