100,000 flee Lebanon – ‘We don’t want to be Gaza’

Social media footage depicted long lines and packed terminals at Beirut International Airport.

By World Israel News Staff

Thousands of Lebanese are fleeing the country over fears that a war between Israel and Hezbollah could lead to the collapse of the state, as the country is already mired in a deep political and economic crisis.

Footage circulating on social media from Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport showed terminals packed with hundreds of people and long lines for departing flights, with a caption in Arabic suggesting that people are fleeing an imminent war with Israel.

“The media in Lebanon are reporting on more than 100,000 residents who have left the country, especially in the last few days,” a source told Hebrew-language outlet Ma’ariv.

In addition to those leaving the country, tens of thousands of Lebanese have moved from the southern region, where Hezbollah has strongholds in numerous villages and towns, to Beirut.

But because a full-scale war would likely see Israeli airstrikes on Beirut, some residents are considering relocating to the north of the country.

“We have heard Israeli officials threaten that Beirut will not be safe from attacks if the war expands,” Huda, a resident of the capital, told Arabic-language news outlet Al-Hura.

“As if all the economic, political, social and security issues are not enough for us. We now have a new concern that our fate will be the same as Gaza,” she said.

Rami, another Beirut resident, told Al-Hura that he believed Lebanon’s medical system would collapse in the event of a major war.

“In times of peace, the hospitals are barely able to provide treatment for the sick,” he said. “What will happen if a war breaks out and there are wounded and dead?”

The Hezbollah terror group has been targeting Israeli military assets and communities along the border for eight months, killing some 19 Israeli soldiers and 11 Israeli civilians and wounding dozens more.

The non-stop rocket, missile, and explosive drone attacks have displaced tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel from their hones.

Israeli officials have signaled that the IDF is no longer willing to tolerate the Hezbollah fire and will launch a large-scale attack against the terror group, unless a diplomatic solution that would see the terror group stop their attacks is secured in the near future.