Terrified Lebanese families flee massive Israeli bombardment

24/9/2024 6:56

        Families from south Lebanon clogged the highways north on Monday, fleeing an expanding Israeli bombardment for an uncertain future with children crammed onto parents' laps, suitcases tied to car roofs and dark smoke rising behind them.
        
        Countless cars, vans and pick-up trucks were loaded with belongings and filled with people, sometimes several generations to a vehicle, while other families had fled fast, taking only the bare essentials as bombs rained down from above.
        
        "When the strikes happened in the morning on the houses I grabbed all the important papers and we got out. Strikes all around us. It was terrifying," said Abed Afou whose village of Yater was hit heavily in the dawn barrage.
        
        Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group have been trading fire across the border since the war in Gaza began last year with an attack by Hezbollah's ally Hamas, but Israel has rapidly intensified its military campaign over the past week.
        
        On Monday, as the bombardment escalated to encompass more parts of Lebanon, people received pre-recorded telephone calls on behalf of Israel's military telling them to leave their homes for their own safety.