Lebanon: We always have a feeling of worry, say some French people in Beirut, who live in fear

The Lebanon is living under the shadow of bombings in recent weeks. It is a constant anxiety for the residents and the many French nationals present there. Since the massive strikes last Wednesday, more than 350 deaths have been recorded in the country. Life, however, continues, as observed by our special correspondents on the ground.

This text corresponds to a part of the transcription of the above report. Click on the video to watch it in full.

A French family in Beirut, Lebanon. Some schools are still open. Therefore, this morning, parents are accompanying their adopted daughters to school. There have been almost no strikes on the Lebanese capital for a week. “We’re relieved that things have calmed down in Beirut. It’s definitely more pleasant than what we experienced in recent weeks, but we still have a sense of worry, because we don’t know when it will resume and what will happen,” says Ombeline, a French expatriate in Lebanon.

French families are traumatized by last Wednesday’s dark day, where many neighborhoods were heavily bombed by Israel for the first time. Our family lives in the Christian neighborhood of Achrafieh, which was not affected. “We were scared, but we know we are safe in our neighborhood. So that also helps not to panic when it happens,” adds Ombeline. Her daughter, Anne, a middle school student, adds: “The school ensures that no one in my school is targeted. The environment where I am ensures that I am disconnected from the outside world, even though it’s not even 10 minutes away by car.”

In a multi-confessional Lebanon, the French fear the return of war between communities. Damien Kasper, a father of two children and an administrative executive at a school, would see only one reason to leave the cedar country today: “The red line would really be a civil war, an inter-Lebanese conflict. That would really be a motivating factor for leaving,” he fears.

In Beirut, businesses and stores are open. A French couple works in humanitarian aid: “We live in a state of schizophrenia in Lebanon. We’re in this intermediate zone where we try to live normally but we know that a part of the country is under fire,” testifies Wissam Nasrallah, from the humanitarian association “Le Fruit.”

A new Israeli strike hit a vehicle in South Lebanon on Wednesday morning, while the pro-Iranian Shiite Hezbollah also fires rockets towards the Hebrew state.