Australians in Lebanon try to leave their homeland amid bombing attacks while others stay to be with family

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Australians in Lebanon try to leave their homeland amid bombing attacks while others stay to be with family

时间：2024-09-30 19:22 来源：未知作者：admin 阅读：次

Ruby (left) and her partner Geroge in their home in south Lebanon before she fled the country.

Ruby Chehade was having lunch with friends in Burj el Molok in south Lebanon when bombs started going off.

Days before, she was shopping with her fiance Geroge's family in Burj Hammoud, in the country's north, when low-flying Israeli jets startled them.

"I witnessed the Beirut port explosion and it just brought that same feeling back. I was quite scared," she said.

In a "frantic" rush, the Australian citizen fled to Spain, several days before a planned holiday there, out of fear she would no longer be safe.

Ruby Chehade saw bombing nearby when eating lunch with friends in the south of Lebanon.

"I feel like I am living through a dream," she said.

"It's extremely surreal."

Thousands have fled south and east Lebanon since Israel launched hundreds of air strikes towards the region, killing more than 700, injuring almost 2,000 and displacing tens of thousands, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the Israel-Gaza war erupted on October 7.

"Nowhere is safe in Lebanon, and I am concerned for Geroge's family," Ms Chehade said.

Ms Chehade and her fiance's house in south Lebanon is among those damaged by the Israeli air strikes.

Damage was seen to the side of Ruby's home in South Lebanon.

She spoke to the ABC while still in Barcelona.

"I made it to Spain quite traumatised by the whole thing," she said.

"I don't even know how I'll get back to Australia. My travel agent is saying I've just got to sit and wait and see how they direct me."

Leaving Lebanon without family

Rosemarie Hawa has been trying to leave Lebanon for months. However, it has not been easy.

The Australian citizen would be forced to leave her husband behind if she left because his 309 Partner visa has not been approved, despite being expedited.

"I wanted to leave as a family," she told the ABC.

"My daughter doesn't know what's going on. I told her school is closed indefinitely because of repairs."

Rosemarie (left) and her daughter (middle) will have to leave Lebanon without her husband.

When the federal government first urged Australians to leave the country amid escalating tensions a few weeks ago, Mrs Hawa tried to get out with her husband and eight-year-old daughter but was unable.

"I didn't think it would escalate this much," she said.

Mrs Hawa lives with her family in Jounyeh, 20 kilometres north of Beirut, which has so far not been affected by air strikes.

"The situation is very volatile. There is nowhere to go as everywhere is being targeted," she said.

Mrs Hawa has friends stuck in West Bekaa Valley, in Baalbeck, which has been recently bombed by Israel, targeting what it said was Hezbollah infrastructure.

They're set to fly out of Lebanon on October 1. However, their flights back home to Australia have been cancelled until further notice.

"They're hearing sonic booms almost daily … I am not coping well as I am worried for my parents," Mrs Hawa said.

"Where does one go when the bombing is relentless?

"I feel like this is not going to calm down soon."

Rosemarie said she "hopes to return" to Australia and called on the federal government to help citizens "stranded in Lebanon with nowhere to go" to get back safely.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated her warnings to Australians in the region, urging them to leave while commercial flights remained available.

"The numbers of Australians in Lebanon are beyond the capacity of the government to provide assistance to all," Senator Wong said.

Tens of thousands flee to the north

Tens of thousands have fled the south for other areas of Lebanon.

In the country's north, where tens of thousands from the south and east have fled, Australian Anthony Karam was getting ready to leave after a four-month visit.

"Our village [in the north] is overrun by people from the south who are looking for safety and a place to sleep, and the people are being very hospitable, they've opened up their doors," Mr Karam said.

"Of course we're going to help our brothers and sisters, no matter what sect, no matter where they come from.

"I'm very proud of the Lebanese people."

While there have been difficulties leaving the region, with several cancelled flights, and sky-rocketing airline tickets, Beirut airport was still open on Friday.

Mr Karam said he believed airlines had only been cancelling flights as a precaution and services would return to normal soon.

"We can't afford to have the airport closed for an extended period because it affects the Lebanese economy," he said.

In a video message on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Lebanese people, saying: "Israel's war is not with you. It's with Hezbollah."

"For too long Hezbollah has been using you as human shields," he added.

But Mr Karam said Israel wanted people to panic and leave their countries.

"I have no regard for either party, Hezbollah or the Zionist regime in Israel. However, I do believe [that] just as Israel has a right to defend itself, so does Lebanon," Mr Karam said.

Asked on Friday if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel in Reserve Peter Lerner told the ABC: "We need to be prepared for that situation."

Mr Karam, discussing a possible ground operation in the south, said: "Israel is like the bully in the playground, and eventually the bully gets a bloody nose and has to retreat.

"I'm sure the world can see what's going on, and those who support a war and the genocide in Palestine should take a long hard look in the mirror because the destruction and killing has now come to Lebanon," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel rejected 12 countries' calls for a ceasefire with Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement making it clear the government had rejected the proposal entirely, also effectively disagreeing with its biggest ally, the United States.

The economic situation in Lebanon was dire before this conflict, said Kirsten Sayers, Interim CEO at Caritas Australia, a charity organisation with people on the ground in the country.

Caritas volunteers in Lebanon hand out water bottles and food to help displaced people fleeing the south in their cars.

"This is not a population that can withstand a war and protect innocent lives throughout," Ms Sayers said.

"Australians spend on average $160 per week on food, so imagine that increasing to $560 in just one year, and that is reflective of what happened in Lebanon last year.

"Most previously self-sufficient families are now facing a similar level of need to the nation's sizeable refugee population, and this conflict — bringing damage to resources and infrastructure — will only make things worse."

Amid the new wave of displacement, Caritas partners are getting ready to provide medical, food and hygiene support to shelters, distributing hot meals and providing cash for displaced families.

"Many people flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs," Ms Sayers said.

"They may be out of medicine and lack documents and other assets that might help them.

"They face hunger, thirst and do not know where they will sleep.

"It is also a time when those already vulnerable — women, children, the sick, elderly and disabled — become more vulnerable."

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Australians in Lebanon try to leave their homeland amid bombing attacks while others stay to be with family

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