Displaced Lebanese Share Their Ordeal of Israeli Strikes and Escape

By Emilie Madi

BEIRUT – After evacuating her family from the village of Seddiqine in southern Lebanon, Feryal Mehsen returned to retrieve some belongings when an Israeli airstrike struck nearby.

Now sheltered in Beirut, she scrolls through messages from friends and family asking if she survived the explosion.

"Are you still alive? I heard that you’re dead," one man asked her in a voice recording.

Israel’s bombing campaign in southern Lebanon, targeting what it claims are sites linked to the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, has forced tens of thousands of people like Mehsen, 58, from their homes.

Residents of Seddiqine had become accustomed to sporadic bombing due to months of cross-border fire stemming from the ongoing conflict in Gaza, but they were unprepared for the sudden escalation on Monday.

"All the people rushed out, but I don’t panic easily, so I helped my neighbors to evacuate. Then I went back inside to assist my family in leaving with me," Mehsen recounted.

She evacuated with her daughter and grandchildren, initially taking them to the southern city of Tyre before returning to Seddiqine. That was when the airstrike struck.

"The rocket landed in front of me. I was in shock. I couldn’t hear or see anything afterward. Dust filled the air. I quickly drove off," she said.

As Israeli strikes escalated across southern Lebanon, with Hezbollah targeting locations in northern Israel, the family joined the growing number of displaced individuals fleeing to the capital, Beirut.

They ended up in the same shelter Mehsen had used during the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in July 2006.

"Now the situation is much harder," she noted.

In the same shelter, 63-year-old Souad Mahde was registering her name after fleeing her own village of Qsaibah.

"The day before yesterday, strikes were getting closer, and planes were in the sky. We were frightened," she explained.

As the attacks drew nearer, Qsaibah’s residents fled their homes.

"The first thing I thought was to grab some clothes so I could change if we made it somewhere. Just the basics, and medicine, of course. Nothing more. Nobody cares about possessions anymore because fear takes over," she stated.

As people left southern Lebanon for the north, the roads became congested with traffic. A journey that usually takes two hours turned into a day-long ordeal.

"Our escape was extremely slow. The traffic was horrendous. We moved a little and then stopped repeatedly. There were strikes here and there until we finally reached Beirut. It took us until evening," she recalled.

Arriving in Beirut did not bring her the comfort she sought.

"Even in Beirut, there is an atmosphere of war. Of course, we are in a war," Mehsen said.