At the end of September, the Israeli army began attacking the Lebanese capital Beirut and the southern parts of the country, and Israel's prime minister addressed the Lebanese directly, saying said that “this war is not against them” but against Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned Shiite militia that has also been shelling Israel since the start of the Gaza war. “Every father and every mother must oppose Hezbollah”, Netanyahu said.
In recent times, however, mothers and fathers have other concerns, writes ARD. Many of them are in the intensive care units of Geitawi Hospital in Beirut. There they take care of children in critical condition - day and night.
“I am filled with anger”
Ziyad Suleimani takes the intensive care unit to the hospital. He told the German public-law media that he could no longer talk about politics. “I don't want to listen to anything anymore. I feel such anger when I see the children here, so badly burned, often half their bodies. I want them to be able to return to their normal lives as soon as possible,” says the doctor. However, there is no longer any normal life in this country. The war in the Gaza Strip, which Israel launched in response to the terrorist act of Hamas on October 7, 2023, has also reached Lebanon. For months, Hezbollah has been shelling northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Since the end of September, Israel has been striking back with its powerful and modern military machine.
Attacks against Hezbollah also affect civilians
Shiite villages along Lebanon's southern border have been bombed incessantly, and densely populated areas in Beirut have been attacked with rockets and drones. The attacks are against Hezbollah fighters and commanders and are often successful. But they also affect those who have nothing to do with terrorists. Doctor Ziyad points to a small child wrapped in bandages on one of the hospital beds. “This girl was injured in a bombing. "Half of her body is burnt," he told ARD. The girl is not even two years old and is in critical condition. Despite everything, the doctor hopes and thinks that she will survive.
Beside the child's bed sits a veiled woman, exhausted from sleepless nights and the panicked flight from her village. She is the girl's mother. She tells that her daughter's name is Ivana. And that the bomb came quite suddenly. “It hit right in front of our house, the cars on the street exploded. We were stuck, and fire was burning everywhere, it felt like the air was boiling," the mother told ARD. She had to throw her children out of the window into the hands of the neighbors who were trying to get them out. According to Lebanese authorities, 127 children were killed and hundreds more injured in Israeli bombings. Last night alone, 17 heavy air raids were carried out against the southern suburbs of Beirut, and six buildings were destroyed, writes ARD. One child was seriously injured.
Hospitals have not been bombed yet
Geitawi Hospital is located in the Christian eastern part of the Lebanese capital, which has so far not been bombed. But even here, the sense of safety has long since disappeared, reports the German public-law media. People are afraid to look at the autumn sky, where Israeli surveillance drones are constantly circling, and an airstrike could follow at any moment.
Hospital emergency rooms are constantly filling up with victims of the daily bombings. Sometimes they receive twenty, other times a hundred wounded. Without donations and humanitarian aid from abroad, hospitals will not be able to cope with everything. This hospital is supported by Christian humanitarian organizations in Germany and France and has 23 beds in its burn intensive care unit. “They are all busy”, says Ziyad Suleimani - “only with civilians”.
Author: Martin Durm ARD