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00:00Israel is pressing ahead with its attacks against Hezbollah as its airstrikes against
00:05Lebanon's capital, Beirut, continue into another night.
00:09The Israeli army says it has now killed some 440 of the militant group's fighters during
00:14its ground incursion into Lebanon.
00:17This comes as Israel prepares to mark the anniversary of Hamas's terror attacks on
00:22October 7th, which sparked its military operations.
00:26And it comes as the United Nations Refugee Agency chief, Filippo Grandi, is in Beirut.
00:32He said a ceasefire was needed as soon as possible, adding that Lebanon is in a major
00:38displacement crisis.
00:40Lebanese government officials estimate that 1.2 million people are now displaced.
00:45Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, Grandi said the strikes were not legal.
00:52We need respect for civilian infrastructure and civilian population, unfortunately many
00:59instances of violations of international humanitarian law in the way the airstrikes are conducted
01:06that have destroyed or damaged civilian infrastructure.
01:11And we can now speak to Ruth Michelson, a journalist who is in Beirut.
01:15Ruth, after last night's intense Israeli airstrikes over the city, what is the situation
01:21right now?
01:22Well, I think it's fair to say that a lot of people in Beirut were feeling fearful after
01:31the night that happened last night.
01:33Lebanon's national news agency said that there were more than 30 Israeli airstrikes that
01:39hit the southern suburbs of Beirut.
01:42It's considered to be one of the worst night of airstrikes since Israel expanded its attacks
01:49across Lebanon on the 23rd of September.
01:52There were reports of fireballs lighting up the sky over Beirut.
01:59And it's understood that the targets were a petrol station and a hotel near Rafik Hariri
02:06Airport, which is one of the only ways out for a lot of people in Lebanon.
02:12And so that's obviously creating some increased fear and unease among people here.
02:18The Israeli army has issued evacuation notices for several towns in the south of Lebanon.
02:24Has there been a reaction from Hezbollah?
02:26Well, you're right.
02:30The Israeli army issued evacuation notices for 26 towns across southern Lebanon.
02:37They ordered people there to evacuate immediately.
02:41We haven't seen an immediate reaction from Hezbollah.
02:44What we've seen today is an increased number of funeral notices for their fighters, acknowledging
02:52that they are incurring losses in the south.
02:55But the way that Hezbollah has positioned themselves with regard to the fighting that's
02:59happening, at least to their followers or to nervous people in Lebanon, is that this
03:06is a fight for them along Lebanon's southern border that will win the war and that maybe
03:12there are some losses incurred along the way.
03:14But they are, in their own words, determined to have victory, and that's certainly a reaction
03:20that we're seeing also among some of the people who are displaced from the southern suburbs
03:25of Beirut.
03:26Well, also, as we mentioned, the head of the United Nations Refugee Agency was in Beirut,
03:32and he talked about the tragic toll that the war has taken.
03:35More than a million people in Lebanon displaced so far.
03:39How is the Lebanese government coping with the situation?
03:42And is anybody helping these people?
03:45Well, you are absolutely right.
03:49I mean, the displacement crisis that is happening in Lebanon is enormous.
03:53It would be a lot for any government to deal with.
03:56People are pouring into Beirut.
03:58Many people are going north of Beirut as well.
04:02And you can see across the streets of the capital that there are people sleeping in
04:06the street because of this.
04:08The government, excuse me, the United Nations has said that almost 900 government-run schools
04:16that are being used as desperately underfunded makeshift shelters, that these are basically
04:21full at the moment.
04:23And so we see that the major brunt of this massive response is being borne by local community
04:31initiatives, by private citizens wanting to help.
04:34I've spoken to people who were sleeping in what was previously a nightclub, and the people
04:40running that nightclub said, we opened the doors to them because we wanted to make sure
04:44that these people weren't left sleeping in the open, sleeping on the streets.
04:49And so, obviously, some feeling about the fact that it is the community, it is the average
04:56person that is being pressured to do something to help these people rather than the government
05:02of Lebanon.
05:03That was journalist Ruth Michelson reporting from Beirut.
05:06Many thanks indeed.
05:07We appreciate it.
05:12And we can now speak to Arwa Damon.
05:14She's the president and founder of INARA, the International Network for Air Relief and
05:19Assistance.
05:20She joins us from Beirut.
05:22Arwa, we know that your organization provides medical and mental health care to children
05:27in war zones.
05:29Can you tell us about what you're witnessing in the south of Beirut right now?
05:35Well, we actually have been working in Lebanon since 2015.
05:41I was based here in my former position, my former life, sort of as a senior international
05:47correspondent for CNN.
05:50And so this is a country that I know very, very well.
05:53And what we are seeing across Beirut and a lot of these other areas where people are
06:00sheltering is this prevalent fear that continues to chase and haunt them.
06:06And that is because people here for the last year have been watching what has been happening
06:13in Gaza.
06:14And there is a sense that this is unlike any sort of Israel Hezbollah war that has taken
06:21place before.
06:22This is not exactly what 2006 was.
06:26And they do feel as if this time around, it is going to be much more violent.
06:31And in fact, it already has been much more violent because the death toll has by far
06:35surpassed the Israel Hezbollah 2006 war.
06:39And they're also well aware of what happened in 2006, which is what saw the emergence of
06:45what's known as the Dahiyya doctrine, Dahiyya being the south Beirut Hezbollah stronghold.
06:53And the Dahiyya doctrine is an Israeli military strategy that effectively calls for causing
06:58maximum civilian harm, be that harm to critical infrastructure or harm to civilians themselves.
07:05The logic being that the civilian population will then turn against the entity with whom
07:11Israel is going to war.
07:13But if we look at what happened post 2006, Hezbollah emerged even stronger than before.
07:18And it quite simply, many will say, is a strategy that just doesn't work.
07:21But it is a strategy right now that the Lebanese are very, very much on the receiving end of.
07:27Well, as the Israeli army targets this Hezbollah stronghold in the south of Beirut, it is calling
07:35on civilians to evacuate from the area.
07:38But is it even possible for families to get to safety in the city?
07:42Well, that's what's becoming increasingly difficult because the shelters are completely
07:47full.
07:48There's no infrastructure to be able to adequately house, feed and provide for all of those who
07:54have been fleeing.
07:55We're talking about, you know, around a quarter of the population here, 1.2 million people
07:59that have come under evacuation order.
08:02And we as aid organizations, I mean, we're just we're scrambling.
08:06You know, you receive supplies.
08:08We received, you know, hundreds of mattresses and we went out and, you know, they're gone
08:12in a day because the need is so great.
08:15And it's so widespread all over all of the country, especially when it comes to some
08:20of the sort of harder to reach areas like the Bekaa Valley, where I was earlier today
08:26trying to get mattresses to a couple of locations there.
08:29One was a town that was housing 3000 internally displaced people, but they actually only had
08:35300 mattresses.
08:37So we were able to sort of supplement that a little bit.
08:39But the bottom line is, I mean, no, people don't necessarily feel safe in the locations
08:43that they are fleeing to because there have been bombings in areas where they would have
08:47thought that they would be safe.
08:49And also because shelter and humanitarian assistance, the whole system hasn't really
08:54sort of settled and begun functioning the way that it is meant to function because the
08:59space and the resources quite simply aren't there.
09:02Well, even before this conflict, Lebanon was facing enormous problems, including a government
09:09that was not functional.
09:11So is there anyone who can offer help and protect the people of Lebanon?
09:17And how can the international community perhaps support the Lebanese government?
09:22Well, when it comes to protecting the people of Lebanon from Israel, many here will tell
09:28you that there's only one country that can actually do that, and that is the United States
09:32actually, you know, using what needs to be done, using real pressure points to sort of
09:38rein in Israel's bombing campaign across this entire country and try to push forward some
09:44kind of a political resolution to all of this.
09:46There is no entity inside Lebanon that can actually guarantee the safety of the Lebanese
09:51people. And it's not lost on anyone that, you know, Hezbollah falls outside of the armed
09:56forces of the Lebanese government and yet is significantly, significantly stronger than
10:01the Lebanese army itself.
10:03But irrespective of that, there really is the sense that right now it's the Lebanese
10:09that have to stand up and come together for the Lebanese.
10:13And this is something that has been a bitter reality for decades now, really, to a certain
10:17extent. But especially in the last five years, look, I've been coming to Lebanon
10:20constantly. I was actually based here for years.
10:24I've been coming in and out since 2003.
10:26But especially over the last five years, I've kind of watched the light ebb out of the
10:30eyes of this population that is so much better known for its sort of joie de vivre
10:36and ability to withstand anything because you had the 2015 complete and total economic
10:41collapse. You had the vast majority of the population's savings basically stolen by a
10:46corrupt political elite.
10:47You had the 2020 Beirut port blast.
10:50You had Covid and now you have this.
10:53And it's basically as a friend of mine was messaging me, especially after the Pedro and
10:57walkie talkie attacks.
10:58She said, I mean, Arwa, what is this?
11:00This is like science fiction.
11:02We're in purgatory.
11:04That was Arma Damon, president and founder of Inara, the international network for air
11:09relief and assistance.
11:10Thank you so much for all of your insights.