Israeli raids in Lebanon displace a quarter of the country’s population

The Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon continue with a quarter of the country’s population displaced, most in just the last two weeks. Leila Molana-Allen reports from Saida, on Lebanon’s southern coast, as the exhausted and terrified seek shelter.
Amna Nawaz:
President Biden answered questions from reporters at the White House today, including about Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack and whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to influence the U.S. election.
Joe Biden, President of the United States: The Israelis have not concluded how they’re — what they’re going to do in terms of a strike. That’s under discussion. If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.
No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None. None. None. And I think Bibi should remember that. And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that.
Amna Nawaz:
The Israeli bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon continues, with fully one-quarter of the country’s population now displaced, most in just the last two weeks.
Leila Molana-Allen reports now from Sidon on Lebanon’s southern coast, as exhausted and fearful residents continue to seek shelter.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Exhausted and traumatized, Lebanon’s streets are filled with a sudden wave of homeless and hungry souls, schools out indefinitely. They’re all needed to house the more than 1.2 million already displaced from their homes by the violence on every available surface, mattresses to sleep on, trees repurposed for laundry.
Those unlucky enough to find the shelters full are ending up on the street in the baking heat and pouring rain.
Khaled Issa Ibrahim, Displaced Lebanon Resident (through interpreter):
Everything is destroyed back home. It’s an all-out war. We fled under constant airstrikes.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Khaled and his five young kids fled north a few days ago. They have nowhere else to go.
Khaled IssaIbrahim (through interpreter):
Here, it’s safer, but it’s a disaster for the children and women. It’s so bad. Look at where they change their clothes. And there are no toilets.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Over the past few days, tens of thousands of people have flooded up this coastal highway, escaping the growing list of towns and villages in the south of Lebanon that Israel says it may strike. As that evacuation zone grows, so too does uncertainty over when and if they will be able to go home.
This is what they’re running from, air bombardment and shelling across Southern Lebanon, and increasingly in and around the capital, Beirut, too. Lebanese fear soon nowhere will be safe. Last night, residents cowered in terror as Israel’s warplanes spread a line of explosive fire through Beirut’s southern suburbs on the hunt for assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine.
Today, in Tehran, a rare appearance by the supreme leader to praise Nasrallah amidst rumors of his burial in secret, all while Iran awaits retaliation for its massive missile strike on Israel this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows Iran will pay. Lebanese fear they’re already paying the price for this regional conflict. As leaders grandstand, everyday lives here fall apart.
This restaurant is making daily free meals for thousands of displaced people in Sidon; 29-year-old Noor has thrown herself into the relief effort.
Noor Al Ayoun, Volunteer:
Sometimes, people are crying, sometimes are asking for food. Sometimes, people are asking for clothes or shelter to — where to sleep. Sometimes, it’s someone you know or your friend at school, at the old school or neighbors. So when you hear that someone is dead or someone is injured, and you can’t help them, this is so sad.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Just down the road in Ain El Delb, community answered the call to action too. They thought they were safe here. They never imagined they’d be victims themselves.
Julia Ramadan and her mother were among those buried in a mass funeral days later, coffin after coffin, a community in mourning. Julia had been volunteering, making food for displaced families. She’d come home from her student accommodation in Beirut after the suburbs were badly bombed, thinking it’s safer.
Ashraf Ramadan, Brother (through interpreter):
When she called, she said — and I didn’t think it was important at the time, but she said: “If I have to die, I want to die next to you.”
Leila Molana-Allen:
Last Sunday, after delivering sandwiches to those seeking shelter, the family came home to rest. Then two missiles smashed into the building.
Julia’s brother, Ashraf, was buried under the rubble for hours awaiting rescue. He was still there when his friends, calling to him, told him his mother was dead.
Ashraf Ramadan (through interpreter):
I thought maybe she died of fear, but I thought Julia would make it out because she’s strong. They found Julia at midnight. She had suffocated. When I saw my mother and sister’s bodies at the hospital, they didn’t have a single scar, but not being able to breathe under the rubble killed them.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Having lost the sister he calls his closest confidant, Ashraf is struggling to keep going and to forgive.
Ashraf Ramadan (through interpreter):
All you Western governments who claim to support Lebanon should stop providing Israel with weapons. How did she threaten Israel’s security and peace?
I was texting to her a few minutes ago.
Leila Molana-Allen:
You still send her text messages…
Ashraf Ramadan:
Yes.
Leila Molana-Allen:
… when you’re thinking about her?
Ashraf Ramadan:
I told her I will come in a little bit. She see how much people are talking about you, how much are you hero. She’s my hero.
Leila Molana-Allen:
Just one of many shattered families here.
Civilians say they’re caught up and dying in a war they didn’t start and don’t want to fight. They fear no one is listening.
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Leila Molana-Allen in Sidon, Lebanon.