In eastern Lebanon right now, there is a frantic race to create shelter.
Schools, universities and sports halls are being transformed into relief centres for those who’ve been forced from their homes.
As night fell in the town of Qob Elias, 25 miles from Baalbek, we found a technical college being cleared out by a group of local volunteers.
Desks, tables and chairs were removed; mattresses, medical kits and drinking water were carried in.
We came across Iman and her family of five. They are among the tens of thousands who have fled the Baalbek region in the face of Israeli air strikes.
The first evacuation order came on Wednesday, and it sparked panic among residents. No one knew how long they had before the missiles would fall, so all Imam and her family have are the clothes on their backs.
Image: ‘We were so scared,’ says Iman (right)
“We were so scared,” she told Sky News.
“We left our houses, we left our belongings and we left everything, because we had to find somewhere safe for us and our children.”
Their haste almost certainly saved their lives. Iman shows me a video of an airstrike hitting her village, a matter of hours after the evacuation order.
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The Israeli military said it would only target Hezbollah infrastructure, and that it had no intention to harm civilians.
But try telling that to those who live here.
“This is not true,” Iman insists, her voice trembling with rage.
“They are targeting the houses of civilians, they are striking randomly, they destroyed properties and killed people.
“What have we done wrong? What is the guilt of these children? We don’t side with anyone, we are public sector workers, we are farmers, we are not fighting.”
Image: A technical college is being re-purposed
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In nearby Zahlé, there’s no space for new arrivals. The town is already full with those displaced from earlier in the conflict.
We visit a school where families are living on top of each other.
Corridors and classrooms have become kitchens and bedrooms, while laundry dries on the playground fence. It’s basic but it’s safe.
Image: Ali is looking after his four-year-old grandson
We meet Ali Hamiye, who fled the Baalbek region last month. He’s here with his four-year-old grandson, who’s escaped the physical threat of war, but not the terror it brings.
“Every time he hears the drone he runs to me to hide, shouting ‘Grandpa! Drone! Drone!'” Ali said, hugging his grandson.
“I tell him – this is just an aeroplane, don’t be afraid, it loves us.
“I tell him these things so he doesn’t get traumatised.”
More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon since the war between Hezbollah and Israel began last October.
That’s a fifth of the population.
The challenge now is finding somewhere for them to go.
(In northern Israel, it is thought about 60,000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of missiles fired across the border by Hezbollah.)
Source : Sky News
