Beirut is a city gripped by fear and chaos right now.
There are hoards of people moving their families, with grandparents, children and newborns across the city.
Families who have been camped out all night can be spotted under clumps of olive trees, in the middle of traffic roundabouts, and crowded outside emergency shelters which have sprung up overnight.
Israel-Hezbollah latest
Image: Pic: AP
“We are trying to manage the unmanageable,” Edouard Beigbeder, the UNICEF representative in Lebanon, told us.
The communications department of the American University of Beirut has been hurriedly converted into a shelter and by mid-morning was already full of more than a thousand people.
Groups of women and children can be spotted all across the southern part of the capital standing with rolled-up mattresses and whatever belongings they could grab at the last minute.
“Many people just left home with nothing,” said Mr Beigbeder.
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Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Hundreds of shelters are now operating across the city, trying to offer sanctuary to those displaced from Dahieh.
The southern suburb of Beirut is known as a Hezbollah stronghold, packed full of supporters, loyalists and fighters – but also ordinarily a densely packed residential area.
This morning, large parts of Dahieh seemed to be unusually quiet with many shuttered shops and businesses. UNICEF workers on the ground estimated “dozens of thousands” of people had left the area overnight, normally home to around 600,000 residents.
Civil defence teams were on standby near Dahieh, as were fire crews and Lebanese army troops, as Israeli drones buzzed overhead.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: AP
The militant group had only officially confirmed the death of their leader by early afternoon.
The Hezbollah TV channel, Al Manar, did not reference his death all morning and there was no official comment from the Hezbollah media office overnight other than a very early voice note shortly after the huge strikes on Friday.
The audio message – which was disseminated on Hezbollah social media groups – was sent out shortly after the massive airstrikes on Friday.
In the message, an unidentified voice said the Hezbollah leader was sending greetings to everyone and wishing he was on the frontlines with Hezbollah fighters.
But the longer there was no actual detail or official confirmation from Hezbollah officials, the more uncertainty there was about his survival.
As soon as an official statement was made by the Hezbollah media office at exactly 2.31pm local time, the Lebanese journalists we were with began crying. We could hear shots being fired and women crying.
Read more:In disarray, Hezbollah must decide to fight or backdownWho was Hassan Nasrallah – the leader killed by Israel?
Image: Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Nasrallah holds an extraordinarily unique position in the hearts of his followers. And not just in Lebanon but beyond – in Iran particularly as well as among the militant groups which form part of the so-called Axis of Resistance in Yemen, Iraq and parts of Syria.
He is viewed as not only the Hezbollah military and political strategist but also their religious leader. He occupies a unique position of power and reverence in the militant group.
Few of his supporters have wanted to comment on or even contemplate his demise. It’s been almost viewed as treacherous or sacrilegious to even talk about this.
There is also an extreme reluctance among fanatical Hezbollah supporters to accept any comment other than an official one from their Hezbollah officials.
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The death of such a powerfully influential figure will strike acute unease and create a great deal of uncertainty even among those who hate him and fear him.
It will upset the balance in an already volatile region. Ahead are turbulent and very uncertain times.
Source : Sky News
