Beirutis brace for battle - begin stockpiling food, fuel

(DPA)
15 July 2006

BEIRUT - Beirutis ventured out of their homes on Saturday and headed to the supermarkets to stock up on supplies in preparation for the “all-out war” with Israeli promised by Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

Most residents of the capital have already fled the city for safer mountain areas to the north- and south-east.

Those who have decided to stay put began preparing for what could be a lengthy siege as Israel tightens its air, road and sea blockade on the country.

“I came to buy food supplies for my children because we decided to stay in Beirut,” Soud Hammoud, a housewife, told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

Panicked residents made a beeline for the petrol pumps to fill up on fuel after Israeli jets bombed several petrol stations across southern Lebanon earlier in the day.

“We have to fill our cars with gas to be ready to evacuate the capital if the situation deteriorates,” said Sabaa Younis.

Many people, mostly women and children, had already sought refuge in hotels in the Cedar mountains, north-east of Beirut.

“I came with the two girls to the Cedars for the weekend because they were scared by the sound of the bombs,” Randa Attaya, a mother of two, told dpa by phone.

Israel pounded Lebanon for the fourth straight day Saturday targeting Hezbollah’s power bases in the south of the country in relentless attacks that have killed 67 people and left world powers scrambling to avert a full-blown war in the region.

“War is coming back to Lebanon,” most people fear in a country that has already endured a civil war from 1975 until the early 1990s.

“This is our fate...we have started to enjoy peace..but now the whole country is in a state of war,” Imad Zeidan, a businessman told dpa.

The latest crisis was triggered when Hezbollah guerrillas seized two Israeli servicemen in a deadly attack on the volatile Lebanese- Israeli border Wednesday, leading to Israel’s first ground incursion into its northern neighbour since it withdrew from the country in 2000.

The panic in Beirut was heightened after Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah announced in a televised statement on Friday that Lebanon was “heading towards an open war with Israel.”

He also threatened that his movement would target areas deep inside Israel with rockets.

The Hezbollah leader’s remarks following an Israeli airstrike Friday that destroyed his home in southern Beirut. Hezbollah forces later retaliated by shelling an Israeli naval vessel off the Lebanese coast.

“Nasrallah’s statement made us take extra precautions and prepare for the worst,” Zeidan said.

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