Forgotten Victims of Israeli Bombing in Beirut Hold Little Hope for Trump's Peace Talk
Washington has delivered contradictory messages over the past forty-eight hours regarding the duration of its military engagement in Iran. Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Beirut, families taking shelter from relentless Israeli bombardment share with Bel Trew that the widespread devastation has extinguished their optimism for their nation's future.
Devastation and Displacement in Dahiyeh
Sobbing uncontrollably, eighty-two-year-old Fatima desperately searches for a tent to sleep in after fleeing a southern suburb of Beirut mere moments before an Israeli airstrike obliterated adjacent buildings. Together with her husband, she had stubbornly remained in their Dahiyeh home, a predominantly Shia neighborhood housing approximately half a million residents. Israel mandated evacuation after opening a second front against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, joining the United States in bombing Iran.
On Tuesday afternoon, Fatima recounts fleeing wearing only the clothes on her back as the Israeli military issued a final warning for immediate departure. Subsequent strikes sent choking columns of smoke towering over the cityscape. "It was just me and my husband on our own. They told us to get out so we ran," she repeats in terror, while Israeli drones whine overhead at a makeshift displacement camp housed within a sports stadium. "I am so sick and I didn't bring my medication. We need help," she frantically tells aid workers.
Trump's Signals and Regional Escalation
On Monday, Donald Trump indicated the imminent conclusion of the devastating US and Israeli bombardment of Iran, which has claimed over 1,300 lives and triggered a region-wide conflict stretching from Lebanon to Kuwait. This escalation prompted Iran to choke global shipping routes and bomb countries including Qatar and the UAE, forcing international airport closures. The United Kingdom has even deployed the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon to the eastern Mediterranean following a drone attack on an RAF base in Cyprus.
The Type 45 destroyer possesses capabilities to intercept drones and ballistic missiles launched by Iran and its proxies. However, fears persist that even if the US and Israel cease bombing Iran, Israel's offensive in Lebanon will prolong indefinitely.
Lebanon's Deepening Humanitarian Catastrophe
Lebanon entered the Middle East conflict last week when Hezbollah launched strikes against Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, Israeli attacks have killed at least 570 people according to local authorities. The United Nations reports 700,000 people displaced, with 100,000 fleeing in the last twenty-four hours alone.
With limited options, many sleep in makeshift camps like the sports stadium, in vehicles, on streets, or along Beirut's seafront. In Martyrs' Square, thirty-six-year-old Mariam, a mother of three who also fled Dahiyeh, lives in a tent after being turned away from multiple schools converted into temporary shelters due to overcrowding. "During the last war with Israel in 2024, my family building was completely destroyed and we have had no money to rebuild," she adds, nervously watching skies as planes roar overhead. "We were renting an apartment when war broke out again. Now we have no money and we have lost everything."
In an adjacent tent, forty-two-year-old Kafaa, a Syrian refugee and mother of two, describes fleeing Dahiyeh while holding her crying daughter and praying. "The explosion shook the buildings and shattered the windows. We couldn't see because the smoke was so intense."
Strained Resources and Unprecedented Crisis
Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs Haneen Sayed stated on Tuesday that the state anticipates higher displacement than the previous war, which pushed over one million people from their homes. "There are far fewer resources this year given the global situation and the regional war that's happening," she explained, noting that Gulf countries previously providing aid now face their own crises after coming under Iranian fire.
Dr. Hanan Balkhy, regional director of the World Health Organization, described the current crisis as "unprecedented" due to its multilayered, multi-country, multi-region nature, complicating response efforts. She warned that without immediate cessation, the situation could "spin out of control."
With no credible end in sight, Lebanese authorities adapt by converting schools and stadiums into temporary camps. "This is about trying to bring people off the streets and into a place where they have a toilet, electricity and some food," says Najji Hammoud, former general manager of Sports Facilities now overseeing a major humanitarian operation. Behind him, UN agencies and the Lebanese Red Cross stockpile supplies and erect tents in the stadium complex. "This is the worst. Even in the 2024 bombing, the Syria border was open, and not all of Dahiyeh was in the red zone. Now Israel has evacuated everyone."
Personal Stories of Desperation
In one tent, sixty-five-year-old Ali, a single father of two with disabilities preventing walking, arrived yesterday in a wheelchair after sleeping rough in his car for five days after fleeing a southern village. "A strike landed right next to us so we escaped with nothing but what we were wearing," he says inside his tent.
Facing a mounting humanitarian catastrophe, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun signaled openness to direct negotiations with Israel to end the war. However, Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, told Reuters that words alone are insufficient. "At this stage, I'm not aware of any decision to enter negotiations," Mr. Zarka said. "What would end it is the disarmament of Hezbollah and that is a choice for the Lebanese government."
Lebanon's government vowed last year to establish a state monopoly on arms and confiscated part of Hezbollah's arsenal in the country's south without objections from the group. Yet Hezbollah refuses full disarmament, and Lebanese authorities fear forced disarmament could ignite civil conflict.
Enduring Fear and Uncertainty
Families express fear that even if Trump ends the war on Iran, Israel will continue bombing Lebanon as its offensive has only just begun. "We have no idea when this will end," says Ali in desperation as his daughter sits with her head in her hands. "We are normal people, we do not get to decide. We are waiting for the war to end. All we can do is pray."
