View From Lebanon
Myriam Boulos shares a selection of images and accompanying captions from her home in Beirut, Lebanon, as Israeli attacks continue to devastate the country.
The following text was written on October 13, 2024.
On September 23, Israeli airstrikes killed over 490 people in a single day, marking one of the deadliest days in Lebanon’s history. Thousands fled southern Lebanon, seeking refuge in Beirut, only to be displaced again as Israeli forces bombarded the southern suburbs of the capital.
Today, 1.2 million people — one-sixth of Lebanon’s population — are displaced, with many still sleeping in their cars or in public parks. For two weeks, Israel’s night raids over Beirut have terrorized residents. These indiscriminate attacks have taken over 2,300 lives and injured 10,000 more since October 8, 2023. Among the dead are over 100 paramedics. Six major hospitals have been partially or completely destroyed. Entire villages in southern Lebanon lie in ruins. Israeli warnings via SMS and phone calls forced thousands to flee their homes within minutes. Those fortunate enough to escape did so just before their buildings collapsed.
Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary General alone leveled six buildings. Lebanon’s only airport, the last viable exit for civilians, faces almost daily strikes in the area, further trapping the population. Since October 8, 2023, Israel has launched 9,902 attacks on Lebanon and Israel is responsible for 80% of cross-border assaults during this period.
The UNIFIL is a UN peacekeeping force that has operated in southern Lebanon since 1978. On October 10, two members of the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) were transferred to the hospital after an Israeli tank targeted their watch tower. On the same day, the Israeli army deliberately opened fire on UN security cameras and disabled them.
Pictured here is Fawzia, a vegan activist and photographer who lives with a rooster called Deeko. In November last year, she said to me: “I have loudly denounced the label of terrorism given to my people for as long as I can remember. I am tired of having to defend myself and my religion constantly.”
This is a man named Sobhi in front of an olive tree. He told me that he saw the olive trees, which were planted around 1500 years ago, being burnt by incendiary munitions fired by Israel recently. Nakad, another farmer from Deir Mimas, said it was white phosphorus.
"I lie to my kids and invent stories in order for them not to get scared. Meanwhile I resist by going to work, continuing my day, and not being scared of death. Despite the situation, I would not leave the country."
- Beri Han (pictured above)
Lara, pictured above, said: “I resist with patience and reliance on God. We cannot forget Al Sayeda Zainab, peace be upon her, as the memory of her patience is present in this environment. What scares me the most is not fulfilling my duty toward this honorable resistance. We are living in a time of victories, even if much of our blood has been shed and many of our people have suffered.
“This land is ours, and no force in this world can compel us to leave. Even if it means our souls being crushed before our eyes.”
Below is the view from my sister’s apartment. My partner looks at the Israeli airstrikes on Beirut after Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination.
"With each passing day, Israel’s relentless war drags Lebanon deeper into the abyss, while the world remains deafeningly silent. "
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After being forcibly displaced from the south and from Beirut’s southern suburbs, people built tents on the sideway in front of Ramlet El Bayda. One woman told me, pointing to the man next to her: “We were neighbors in Dahieh, now we are neighbors here too.”
The neighbor added: “Foreign photojournalists have been taking pictures of us without our consent. We don’t want to be represented like this.”
Mohamed, above, and his friends who were forcibly displaced from Dahieh spend every night in Baabda on a hill from which they can see their neighborhood being bombed. One of them goes back to Dahieh every morning to shower at his place, even if it was damaged by the Israeli strikes.
Mohamad and Aboudi, below, are two Syrian brothers living in Baabda. Mohamad grew up in Lebanon and Aboudi joined him a few weeks ago. At the beginning of the war, more than 30,000 people crossed into Syria from Lebanon (80% were Syrian). In October, Israeli airstrikes cut off the main road between Lebanon and Syria.
This war makes me realize how everything is linked. How people who are not even asking about me in Europe or the U.S. are very much a part of what’s happening in Lebanon and Palestine. Meanwhile, I answer “forever denounce Zionism” to those who do ask me how they can help. You can also follow @peopletopeople.lebanon to find relief initiatives in Lebanon under an inclusive umbrella.
