Lebanon feels echoes of the horrors in Gaza as civilians flee war

International Editor Emma Murphy is in Lebanon, just outside the capital Beirut

There is an echo now, and it is not just the reverberation of explosions across borders.But it is an echo that is crossing borders: here in Lebanon that echo is coming from Gaza.It comes from the words and deeds of the Israeli military. From the words of the international community. And from the silence of the dead.

The Lebanese have heard the claims from Israel that only terrorists are being targeted in Gaza and now they are hearing it here.They have seen the tiny broken frames of those who played no part in war but died in it. Now they are seeing it here.

They have heard the international community call for restraint in Gaza, only for another barrage to land on civilians. Now that is happening here.

It is estimated half a million people in Lebanon have fled their homes. Credit: AP

The deaths of more than 40,000 in Gaza weigh even heavier as fear builds as to what could happen in the days ahead in Lebanon.Any sense that what is going on is tit for tat on the border is over. Tit for tat ended with the deaths of more than 500 people and the displacement of around 500,000. A tenth of a country on the move in the space of 24 hours.This week Hezbollah fighters have been killed in the attacks on the north, south and the east of this country. Hezbollah weapons stores have been destroyed.

A boy checks the damage to a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in the southern. Credit: AP

But hundreds of civilians are also dead. At least 50 children, elderly people, UN workers. They are not terrorists.Over the past year in Gaza Hamas fighters have been killed, weapons stores and tunnels destroyed. Tens of thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced.On Lebanon’s streets, there is deep fear of where this crisis is heading.

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The war has not delivered Israel any true sense or state of safety and the hostages are still missing.There is no indication following the same playbook in Lebanon will deliver any greater safety or the return to the north Israel seeks.

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