'Our hearts ache': Gazans voice solidarity as Israel bombards Lebanon

Palestinians fear their situation is repeating itself in Lebanon

Gazans expressed support as Lebanese flee their homes amid persistent Israeli air strikes. AFP

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Gazans are showing solidarity with Lebanese as days of air strikes have killed more than 500 people in the south and east of the country, as well as the capital of Beirut.

In Gaza's Khan Younis, only 250km from Sidon from where thousands of Lebanese have fled in recent days, people share news of the latest strikes and their fear that a repeat of Gaza's turmoil is in the offing.

The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli bombardment for almost a year, killing more than 41,400 people and injuring at least 95,000. As most of the enclave's infrastructure is destroyed and millions of residents have been evicted from their homes several times in Gaza, the population fears the same fate for Lebanon.

“Beirut feels like our own tent and our hearts ache for those who are suffering,” said Mohammed Ahmad, 32, who is originally from Gaza city but was forced to move south to Khan Younis. “We hope this situation ends soon, as we do not want them to endure the same experiences we have faced. We have suffered immensely and we fear that the same fate may befall Lebanon.”

Lebanese people search for their belongings in a damaged building after Israeli strikes in the village of Al Aqbieh near Sidon, South Lebanon. EPA

Hezbollah has been the target of Israeli attacks across Lebanon since October but tit-for-tat strikes across the border have escalated with Israel blowing up thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging mainly to the group and striking more than 1,600 targets from the air in the past week, beginning an open-ended war. As in Gaza, civilians have been killed in high numbers, including 50 children since Monday, alongside Hezbollah members.

Israel has repeatedly struck the Beirut suburb of Dahieh, most recently on Tuesday, killing six people. Tens of thousands have been displaced either side of the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah responds to Israel's bombardment by striking areas that it has rarely reached in the past, including Haifa in central Israel. The militant group said it will not stop firing missiles into Israel until its enemy stops its bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.

Rescuers at a residential building hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut on Tuesday. AFP

Gazans have a unique perspective on the crisis, in which Lebanon has suffered its heaviest bombardment since Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, in which 158 Israelis and 1,200 Lebanese were killed. Residential areas, too, are reduced to rubble, with people forced to leave their homes and shelter in public buildings such as schools.

“Only those who have endured pain can truly understand the agony of others,” Mohammed Hamad, 43, told The National. He said the only word on people's lips in the tents surrounding him in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis on Tuesday was "Lebanon".

“For 11 months, we have been grappling with the anguish of evacuation and the loss of community. Today, we stand with Lebanon, remembering their support and their historical stance in solidarity with us when everyone else abandoned us,” he said. The two nations felt a "common bond" in experiences of conflict at the hands of Israel, he added.

Displaced Palestinians gather by tents surrounded by floodwater in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Reuters

As Gaza nears the grim anniversary of the war's beginning, Israel's bombardment continued, killing 12 Palestinians on Tuesday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Flooding is hindering aid and rescue efforts and making life even more unbearable in tented camps.

In central Deir Al Balah, Mahmoud Abed Al Bari, 50, hopes a swift end to the conflict will come, so he and all those displaced and now living in waterlogged tents can begin to rebuild their lives.

"We feel as if the suffering is happening to us, not just to them [the Lebanese]. We are acutely aware of the impact of the rockets and the grief that accompanies loss and death," he said. “The same scenario is unfolding once again. We support Lebanon and pray for an end to the war. Our hearts have been with Gaza but now the pain is expanding to include both Gaza and Lebanon; we are one nation.”

Countries across the Middle East condemned Israel's actions in Gaza and Lebanon this week, but Mr Hamad said the region should be wary of Israel widening the sphere of conflict and called for international human rights groups to take action.

“We must unite as one and recognise that this enemy will not stop; they will extend their aggression to other Arab countries. We mourn the bombings of civilians in Lebanon and fervently wish to prevent the suffering we experienced in Gaza from repeating there.”