By Nohad Topalian | 2023-10-12

BEIRUT -- Lebanese families from the border area and the southern towns of Tyre and Bint Jbeil have fled north toward the capital as Israel and Hizbullah exchange fire in the wake of Hamas's attack on Israel from Gaza.

In Beirut, meanwhile, people rushed to gas stations and supermarkets to stock up on supplies in case of an emergency, city residents told Pishtaz affiliate outlet Al-Fassel.

Tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border have soared after Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday (October 7) launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel's southern flank from the blockaded Gaza strip.

Israel has been retaliating to daily fire from Lebanon, which began after Hizbullah launched rockets on a disputed border area on Sunday, AFP reported.

On Monday, the Iran-backed Hizbullah said Israeli strikes killed three of its members, while Palestinian fighters claimed a thwarted infiltration bid.

Israel said it hit Hizbullah observation posts on Tuesday, while Hamas's armed wing claimed rocket fire that a military source said was launched from Qlaileh, in the Lebanese district of Tyre.

On Wednesday, Hizbullah said it targeted an Israeli position near the village of Dhayra, prompting Israeli retaliatory fire shortly after that wounded three people, damaged around 10 houses and turned Dhayra into a ghost town.

Sitting in a cafe at the entrance to the southern village of Qlaileh, Bilal Saleh, 32, scrolled for the latest news updates on his mobile phone.

The father of two is the last member of his family still in the town after his brothers fled on Tuesday night.

"Barely anyone remains," Saleh said, relentlessly checking for fresh alerts.

"People filled their tanks with petrol, piled their kids and their belongings into their cars and quickly drove off... leaving everything behind," he said.

Fear grips Lebanese

The latest exchange of fire came as Israel massed troops and heavy armor around Gaza, and as US President Joe Biden said Washington was "surging assistance" for Israel, including missiles for its Iron Dome interceptor system.

It comes as the largest US aircraft carrier, currently in the Mediterranean, has been ordered to move closer to Israel.

Israel also has massed tanks on the northern border after repeated clashes with Hizbullah in recent days, including cross-border rockets and shelling.

In response, Hizbullah has warned that "this step will not frighten... resistance factions that are ready for confrontation."

Both Israel and the United States have warned Hizbullah against opening a second front as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli army is "prepared for any scenario," said spokesman Daniel Hagari.

Amid soaring casualties in Israel and Gaza, an atmosphere of tension and fear of another war has gripped Lebanon.

A large convoy of ambulances of the Hizbullah-affiliated Islamic Health Organization was seen heading towards south Lebanon on Monday.

Hizbullah also has told the families of its military commanders to exercise the utmost caution and security measures, in anticipation of any emergency on the Lebanese front, the Lebanon Files website reported.

In the Elyssar area of Mount Lebanon's Metn district, Fadi Rizk and his wife told Al-Fassel they were stocking up on canned food at a supermarket "in case something unexpected happens."

"We have not yet forgotten how [Hizbullah leader] Hassan Nasrallah dragged us into the July 2006 war," Rizk said.

At that time, he recalled, the Iran-backed party kidnapped two Israeli soldiers "and thrust the country into a war that destroyed the infrastructure and left hundreds of innocent people dead."

"There is great fear that the party will get us embroiled in a war that we do not want, and he [Nasrallah] should know that if he takes us to war, he will destroy the country," Rizk said.

Josiane Harfouche, who also was shopping with her two sons, told Al-Fassel: "I am gripped by great fear of a war that we would be dragged into by Hizbullah."

Such a war "would wipe out what is left of us and Lebanon, which is already in a state of collapse to begin with," she said.

Acting on Iran's orders

Lebanese Center for Research and Consulting director Hassan Qutb said he doubts Hizbullah will enter into a confrontation with Israel "no matter how bad things get" in Gaza.

This is because Hizbullah's "role is dictated by Iranian timing, and not security developments linked to Palestine or the Lebanese reality," he said.

The Hamas attack on Israel was "without a doubt, done at the behest and direction of Iran," political writer and journalist Asaad Bishara told Al-Fassel.

This is in line with what Iran refers to as the "unity of the arenas" doctrine, or "unity of the resistance axis," of which Hamas is a part, he told Al-Fassel.

If Hizbullah intervenes in the war on the southern front, Lebanon "would pay a frighteningly heavy price with its already collapsed economy and its dilapidated facilities and infrastructure that operate at the minimum level," he added.

Lebanon is already experiencing the worst political and financial crises of its recent history, a political analyst who wished to remain anonymous told Al-Fassel.

The country "cannot get involved in any war that Hizbullah might drag it into, because that would lead to its annihilation," the analyst said.

Lebanon "cannot tolerate" a new war, he added, "as it would not be able to resurrect [itself] in view of the tragic situation it is going through."