In Lebanon, children are waking up in the night to the sound of Israeli bombs and elderly people are collapsing in the streets from exhaustion.
Several aid workers told CNN that displaced families have been forced to sleep on the sidewalk at night, while others flee their homes in search of safety – often leaving without any possessions. One relief worker in Beirut recalled sleepless nights with her two sons as nearby strikes shook her home.
“In downtown Beirut, displaced families do not know where to go,” Michael Adams, the Lebanon country director for the non-profit CARE International said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Israeli military battered parts of Lebanon this week, including the capital Beirut, after the Iran-backed group Hezbollah fired projectiles from Lebanon into Israel. On Wednesday, it said it struck Hezbollah targets south of the Litani River, which runs 20 to 30 kilometers (12 to 20 miles) north of the Israeli border. Seventy-four people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported Wednesday.
One relief worker recalled Tuesday a wave of initial strikes that began “without any evacuation order.” “People were running out, leaving their homes,” said Maya Andari, the director of program quality for CARE International in Lebanon.
“I also have a friend who lives there in the southern suburbs (of Beirut) who was telling me she has two little daughters, and they just woke up to the sound of explosions all around them,” Andari told CNN in a voice note.
Displaced children are “dehydrated” over 36 hours of “relentless stress,” according to Cyril Bassil, a communications specialist for CARE International in Lebanon. “Those who remain in their homes face similar struggles: sleepless nights, fear of being forced to flee, and anxiety over whether they will be next. People live in constant terror,” he said.
CNN’s Ben Wedeman contributed reporting.
