‘The worst moment the country has gone through’

Lebanon is a country that knows war well. And it doesn’t long for more.

It still bears the scars of the 15-year civil war between 1975 and 1990, and the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.

But for some, including Beirut’s Governor Marwan Abboud, Israel’s latest expansion is already too bad.

In the past 10 days, the country has endured mass killings from exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, a wave of assassinations of Hezbollah military commanders, devastating airstrikes – and the bombing of Beirut, which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. . on Friday.

“It’s the worst time the country has gone through,” said Abboud, who is not affiliated with Hezbollah.

“I am saddened. I am shocked by the large number of people who have died. I am also shocked by the peace of the nations of the world – as if what is happening here does not matter.”

We spoke on the edge of Beirut’s Martyrs Square, where many families slept in the open last night after fleeing Israeli strikes in the southern suburb of Dahieh – Hezbollah’s heartland.

They live in the square today – unsure where to turn for safety, like many in Lebanon.

Asked what he thought Israel’s strategy was, the governor replied: “I don’t know, but Israel wants to kill and kill and kill. May God protect this country.”

His words of farewell were dark. “It’s the saddest day of my life,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion.

A few steps away we met a large family, sitting on the bare concrete, in the intense morning sun.

Madina Mustafa Ali was rocking her seven-month-old baby Amir on her lap and remembering the trauma of Friday night.

“There was an explosion, we were afraid especially for the children. We ran away and came here. This is where we slept,” she said.

He told me that the family will stay in the square for now because they have nowhere else to go.

Some are fleeing, others are heading for northern Lebanon. The south of the country is not an option – it is hit hard.

As we drove through the city we saw families walking, some crammed into cars with small mattresses strapped to the roof, others piled onto motorbikes.

Here and there, we saw people walking with a few things.

This is the new Beirut: boarded-up shops, fewer people, and more fear – especially now that Nasrallah’s assassination has been confirmed.

Throughout the day, clouds of black smoke rose from Dahieh. The Hezbollah stronghold looked very weak today – the two busiest streets were empty, and many apartments looked empty.

We saw members of Hezbollah, guarding the area of ​​the air strike, one of them hitting a Kalashnikov. A sign of tension, or depression – as usually an armed group does not show its weapons in the streets.

Hezbollah was not looking at everything we do today – they were more focused perhaps on threats from above.

We were also keeping an eye on the sky, where there were drones.

At one Israeli strike site, we saw smoke rising from the ruins of what appeared to be a factory. We were told it was made of kitchen roll, and there was plenty of that cracked on the floor.

Lebanon has been given a war zone, but there are growing dangers throughout the Middle East. And many questions.

Will Hezbollah return hard to Israel? Can it?

Will its Iranian backers step in? So far they have not been in a hurry.

And will Tehran’s other regional proxies – in Iraq, Syria and Yemen – be more involved?