Lebanon estimates 12 million people displaced as Hezbollah Israel continue attacks  DW News_1080 - video Dailymotion

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00:00Israel is pressing ahead with its attacks against Hezbollah as its airstrikes against

00:05Lebanon's capital, Beirut, continue into another night.

00:09The Israeli army says it has now killed some 440 of the militant group's fighters during

00:14its ground incursion into Lebanon.

00:17This comes as Israel prepares to mark the anniversary of Hamas's terror attacks on

00:22October 7th, which sparked its military operations.

00:26And it comes as the United Nations Refugee Agency chief, Filippo Grandi, is in Beirut.

00:32He said a ceasefire was needed as soon as possible, adding that Lebanon is in a major

00:38displacement crisis.

00:40Lebanese government officials estimate that 1.2 million people are now displaced.

00:45Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Grandi said the strikes were not legal.

00:52We need respect for civilian infrastructure and civilian population, unfortunately many

00:59instances of violations of international humanitarian law in the way the airstrikes are conducted

01:06that have destroyed or damaged civilian infrastructure.

01:11And we can now speak to Ruth Michelson, a journalist who is in Beirut.

01:15Ruth, after last night's intense Israeli airstrikes over the city, what is the situation

01:21right now?

01:22Well, I think it's fair to say that a lot of people in Beirut were feeling fearful after

01:31the night that happened last night.

01:33Lebanon's national news agency said that there were more than 30 Israeli airstrikes that

01:39hit the southern suburbs of Beirut.

01:42It's considered to be one of the worst night of airstrikes since Israel expanded its attacks

01:49across Lebanon on the 23rd of September.

01:52There were reports of fireballs lighting up the sky over Beirut.

01:59And it's understood that the targets were a petrol station and a hotel near Rafik Hariri

02:06Airport, which is one of the only ways out for a lot of people in Lebanon.

02:12And so that's obviously creating some increased fear and unease among people here.

02:18The Israeli army has issued evacuation notices for several towns in the south of Lebanon.

02:24Has there been a reaction from Hezbollah?

02:26Well, you're right.

02:30The Israeli army issued evacuation notices for 26 towns across southern Lebanon.

02:37They ordered people there to evacuate immediately.

02:41We haven't seen an immediate reaction from Hezbollah.

02:44What we've seen today is an increased number of funeral notices for their fighters, acknowledging

02:52that they are incurring losses in the south.

02:55But the way that Hezbollah has positioned themselves with regard to the fighting that's

02:59happening, at least to their followers or to nervous people in Lebanon, is that this

03:06is a fight for them along Lebanon's southern border that will win the war and that maybe

03:12there are some losses incurred along the way.

03:14But they are, in their own words, determined to have victory, and that's certainly a reaction

03:20that we're seeing also among some of the people who are displaced from the southern suburbs

03:25of Beirut.

03:26Well, also, as we mentioned, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency was in Beirut,

03:32and he talked about the tragic toll that the war has taken.

03:35More than a million people in Lebanon displaced so far.

03:39How is the Lebanese government coping with the situation?

03:42And is anybody helping these people?

03:45Well, you are absolutely right.

03:49I mean, the displacement crisis that is happening in Lebanon is enormous.

03:53It would be a lot for any government to deal with.

03:56People are pouring into Beirut.

03:58Many people are going north of Beirut as well.

04:02And you can see across the streets of the capital that there are people sleeping in

04:06the street because of this.

04:08The government, excuse me, the United Nations has said that almost 900 government-run schools

04:16that are being used as desperately underfunded makeshift shelters, that these are basically

04:21full at the moment.

04:23And so we see that the major brunt of this massive response is being borne by local community

04:31initiatives, by private citizens wanting to help.

04:34I've spoken to people who were sleeping in what was previously a nightclub, and the people

04:40running that nightclub said, we opened the doors to them because we wanted to make sure

04:44that these people weren't left sleeping in the open, sleeping on the streets.

04:49And so, obviously, some feeling about the fact that it is the community, it is the average

04:56person that is being pressured to do something to help these people rather than the government

05:02of Lebanon.

05:03That was journalist Ruth Michelson reporting from Beirut.

05:06Many thanks indeed.

05:07We appreciate it.

05:12And we can now speak to Arwa Damon.

05:14She's the president and founder of INARA, the International Network for Air Relief and

05:19Assistance.

05:20She joins us from Beirut.

05:22Arwa, we know that your organization provides medical and mental health care to children

05:27in war zones.

05:29Can you tell us about what you're witnessing in the south of Beirut right now?

05:35Well, we actually have been working in Lebanon since 2015.

05:41I was based here in my former position, my former life, sort of as a senior international

05:47correspondent for CNN.

05:50And so this is a country that I know very, very well.

05:53And what we are seeing across Beirut and a lot of these other areas where people are

06:00sheltering is this prevalent fear that continues to chase and haunt them.

06:06And that is because people here for the last year have been watching what has been happening

06:13in Gaza.

06:14And there is a sense that this is unlike any sort of Israel Hezbollah war that has taken

06:21place before.

06:22This is not exactly what 2006 was.

06:26And they do feel as if this time around, it is going to be much more violent.

06:31And in fact, it already has been much more violent because the death toll has by far

06:35surpassed the Israel Hezbollah 2006 war.

06:39And they're also well aware of what happened in 2006, which is what saw the emergence of

06:45what's known as the Dahiyya doctrine, Dahiyya being the south Beirut Hezbollah stronghold.

06:53And the Dahiyya doctrine is an Israeli military strategy that effectively calls for causing

06:58maximum civilian harm, be that harm to critical infrastructure or harm to civilians themselves.

07:05The logic being that the civilian population will then turn against the entity with whom

07:11Israel is going to war.

07:13But if we look at what happened post 2006, Hezbollah emerged even stronger than before.

07:18And it quite simply, many will say, is a strategy that just doesn't work.

07:21But it is a strategy right now that the Lebanese are very, very much on the receiving end of.

07:27Well, as the Israeli army targets this Hezbollah stronghold in the south of Beirut, it is calling

07:35on civilians to evacuate from the area.

07:38But is it even possible for families to get to safety in the city?

07:42Well, that's what's becoming increasingly difficult because the shelters are completely

07:47full.

07:48There's no infrastructure to be able to adequately house, feed and provide for all of those who

07:54have been fleeing.

07:55We're talking about, you know, around a quarter of the population here, 1.2 million people

07:59that have come under evacuation order.

08:02And we as aid organizations, I mean, we're just we're scrambling.

08:06You know, you receive supplies.

08:08We received, you know, hundreds of mattresses and we went out and, you know, they're gone

08:12in a day because the need is so great.

08:15And it's so widespread all over all of the country, especially when it comes to some

08:20of the sort of harder to reach areas like the Bekaa Valley, where I was earlier today

08:26trying to get mattresses to a couple of locations there.

08:29One was a town that was housing 3000 internally displaced people, but they actually only had

08:35300 mattresses.

08:37So we were able to sort of supplement that a little bit.

08:39But the bottom line is, I mean, no, people don't necessarily feel safe in the locations

08:43that they are fleeing to because there have been bombings in areas where they would have

08:47thought that they would be safe.

08:49And also because shelter and humanitarian assistance, the whole system hasn't really

08:54sort of settled and begun functioning the way that it is meant to function because the

08:59space and the resources quite simply aren't there.

09:02Well, even before this conflict, Lebanon was facing enormous problems, including a government

09:09that was not functional.

09:11So is there anyone who can offer help and protect the people of Lebanon?

09:17And how can the international community perhaps support the Lebanese government?

09:22Well, when it comes to protecting the people of Lebanon from Israel, many here will tell

09:28you that there's only one country that can actually do that, and that is the United States

09:32actually, you know, using what needs to be done, using real pressure points to sort of

09:38rein in Israel's bombing campaign across this entire country and try to push forward some

09:44kind of a political resolution to all of this.

09:46There is no entity inside Lebanon that can actually guarantee the safety of the Lebanese

09:51people. And it's not lost on anyone that, you know, Hezbollah falls outside of the armed

09:56forces of the Lebanese government and yet is significantly, significantly stronger than

10:01the Lebanese army itself.

10:03But irrespective of that, there really is the sense that right now it's the Lebanese

10:09that have to stand up and come together for the Lebanese.

10:13And this is something that has been a bitter reality for decades now, really, to a certain

10:17extent. But especially in the last five years, look, I've been coming to Lebanon

10:20constantly. I was actually based here for years.

10:24I've been coming in and out since 2003.

10:26But especially over the last five years, I've kind of watched the light ebb out of the

10:30eyes of this population that is so much better known for its sort of joie de vivre

10:36and ability to withstand anything because you had the 2015 complete and total economic

10:41collapse. You had the vast majority of the population's savings basically stolen by a

10:46corrupt political elite.

10:47You had the 2020 Beirut port blast.

10:50You had Covid and now you have this.

10:53And it's basically as a friend of mine was messaging me, especially after the Pedro and

10:57walkie talkie attacks.

10:58She said, I mean, Arwa, what is this?

11:00This is like science fiction.

11:02We're in purgatory.

11:04That was Arma Damon, president and founder of Inara, the international network for air

11:09relief and assistance.

11:10Thank you so much for all of your insights.

Lebanon estimates 12 million people displaced as Hezbollah Israel continue attacks DW News_1080

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