Belgian aid worker in Lebanon after Israeli attacks: 'Where will all the displaced people go?'
Following Israel's deadly attacks in southern Lebanon on Monday, Anke Bert, a Belgian coordinator for the Middle East in Beirut, has described the situation first-hand. She says refugees have been pouring into Beirut seeking safety.
The Israeli airstrikes, which began on Monday, have already claimed more than 550 lives. The attacks are part of Israel’s escalating campaign against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. On Tuesday, a Hezbollah commander was killed in a suburb of Beirut, further intensifying the situation.
Bert, from Ninove, works for the German Red Cross, supporting the efforts of the Red Cross and Red Crescent across Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and Turkey. She has been based in a northern district of Beirut for a month, where, for now, things remain relatively calm.
"I see people pulling into the city in their cars with just a few belongings and no real plan"
"It’s quiet here at the moment," she says. "The air strikes are happening in the southern neighbourhoods. We’re living in a parallel situation. My Lebanese colleagues are currently hosting their families who have fled from the south."
"I see people pulling into the city in their cars with just a few belongings and no real plan," she says of Beirut. According to the Lebanese minister of Foreign Affairs, half a million people have already fled the Israeli bombings.
Bert: "Lebanon already has the largest number of refugees per capita in the world - mainly Palestinians and Syrians. Now, the question is, where will all the displaced Lebanese go?"
"Lebanon already has the largest number of refugees per capita in the world"
The crisis has even led to some Lebanese fleeing to Syria. "One of our tasks is to coordinate that flow," she says. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Red Cross is ramping up its operations.
No stranger to conflict zones
"In normal times, we provide ambulances, blood transfusion centres and rescue workers who help pull people from under the rubble. Now, we’re scaling all of that up. Together with local actors, we’re supporting those who have fled from the south to Beirut with food parcels and hygiene kits. We work with local volunteers, but given the emergency situation, it’s not always easy."
Bert previously spent nine months coordinating aid in northwestern Ukraine, also under the German Red Cross.
"Lebanon is different," she says. "In Ukraine, there’s a clear front line in the east, and I was far from it. Here, there’s much more uncertainty. The work is similar - I coordinated medical aid for people in remote areas in Ukraine, too - but there, social isolation was greater. Beirut is a big city, and there’s more social contact. That makes it easier to keep going personally."
Lebanese refugees seek shelter in a school following Israeli airstrikes © PHOTO ANWAR AMRO / AFP
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