Journalist Camille Eid, originally from Beirut.
1600 raids in just twenty-four hours and a death toll of over 500. This is the dramatic scenario that Lebanon finds itself dealing with immediately after the massive air attack by Israel. The IDF resumed bombings in the north-east of the territory which caused over twenty victims, of which 19 were Syrian. «I finished speaking just half an hour ago with a Christian family who is among the displaced. In tears, they told me the terrible situation they are experiencing”, says the Lebanese journalist Camille Eid, originally from Beirut. «They live in the south of the country, they were given just two hours to load their luggage into the car and leave the area. In the narrative that is made, it seems that Israeli forces only hit Hezbollah’s military objectives, but this is not the case, because Hezbollah men come from every part of the country and when one of them is targeted, inevitably, other civilians are also involved”, continues Eid, who in the last few hours, on his Facebook page, wanted to post photos of some young victims of the attack. From Yasmina, a 6 year old girl, who wrote on a note her desire to remain safe together with her family during the bombings, to the sisters Rabab and Zainab Marouni, teachers of the Al-Hikma Model School, who died together with their cousin Zainab Hamdan, also a teacher of the Evangelical School, and the young Malak Jabr, killed together with her 7-day-old son Khalil. «The problem is this, no distinction is made between military and civilian objectives. We have also seen this in the explosion of walkie-talkie and pagers last week. When you blow up an appliance in a common area, perhaps at an open-air market, or in an office, the explosion will inevitably cause more victims.”
The hypothesis of the boots on the groundor a land invasion by Israel. What would be the consequences of a large-scale war that would risk engulfing the entire Middle East?
«It would be a very serious fact, it would mean that Israel has learned nothing from history, because already in 1978 and then again in ’82 it chose the path of invasion. In his last speech a week ago, the Hezbollah leader had launched a sort of challenge to the Israelis, almost urging them to invade Lebanon, but at the same time warning them that, on the other side of the barricade, they would find all the wounded people and mutilated by pager explosions.”
How real do you think the possibility of an invasion is?
«It’s difficult to say, because such an action would not only not be convenient for Israel, but would also end up involving the United States, which has made it clear that it wants nothing to do with this war. Not to mention Iran and other forces…”.
In Israel, for some time now, many parts of the population have distanced themselves from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. In Lebanon, however, what is the situation? Does Hezbollah have the support of citizens?
«I’m sincere, regardless of the ideologies, strategies and policies undertaken, the Hezbollah issue does not enjoy unanimous consensus on the part of the Lebanese. There are those who support the cause, citing reasons of military inferiority, because Lebanon is not armed by the Americans or, more generally, by the West like other countries and this places it in a position of weakness; and those who, however, believe that Hezbollah has created a “state within a state”, taking responsibility for a unilateral decision and dragging Lebanon into a conflict that no one wants. In the presence of an external attack, however, as has been happening for a week now, there was a minimum of national cohesion, especially on the day of the explosions of walkie-talkie and pagers. In a matter of seconds, 4,000 devices were blown up: this gave rise to a strong sense of belonging to the nation on the part of the Lebanese.”
How limiting is the fact that Hezbollah is recognized as a terrorist association by the United States and by Israel itself for any peace talks?
«I don’t think it represents an insurmountable obstacle. Currently the United States, in order not to deal directly with Hezbollah, interfaces with the president of Parliament, Nabih Berri, political leader of the Amal movement. It goes without saying that the president also speaks on behalf of Hezbollah. It means getting around an obstacle, they did the same thing with Hamas, where Qatar played a mediating role. Not to mention the 70s and 80s with the PLO. The thing that worries me most, in the attempt to reach a peace agreement, is seeing how the United States is always caught “off guard” by the Israelis. Every time Israel attacks, the Americans always call themselves out, saying they don’t know anything, that they weren’t warned.”
How real is the risk that Lebanon will be “isolated” on the international scene?
«I don’t think we run this risk, I think of the positions of France and Qatar. Turkey sent a delegation to try to find a way out. Perhaps there remains the Holy See which, through its diplomatic channels, with great discretion, can give much more effective guarantees to Lebanon. I want to thank the Holy Father, because by sending the apostolic nuncio to some cities in the South of the country to celebrate Mass and bring a minimum of comfort he gave the population the feeling of not being abandoned.”
And what would you say to the Israeli leader Netanyahu?
«I limit myself to reiterating what some US officials have already recalled in recent days: a war with Lebanon would lead nowhere and would be harmful first and foremost for Israel. They must think about how to make peace, how to build a just peace and this can only come from the recognition of a Palestinian state. Everything else just becomes a waste of time which, unfortunately, does nothing but cause thousands of new victims.”
