Aztag Editor Reports Beirut Is Gripped by Fear

On the afternoon of April 8, Nora Parseghian was working at the Aztag editorial office in Bourj Hammoud when she heard loud sounds of bombing and felt tremors.

Israel had targeted several neighborhoods in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Parseghian is one of the editors of the Aztag, an Armenian-language daily newspaper in the Armenian-populated city of Bourj Hammoud, near Beirut.

Parseghian likens the images of April 8 to the situation created after the devastating explosion in the Beirut port on August 4, 2020, that killed upwards of two hundred and injured thousands. The blast injured her and her family members.

Six years later, Beirut is once again in mourning. Parseghian says the Lebanese capital, in recent years, has become a city living with the pain of its residents.  

“The hours following the attacks on April 8 were terrible. Dead bodies in the middle of the street, burned-out cars, collapsed buildings. People lost their relatives, apartments, shops, and livelihood centers in a matter of minutes. Huge refrigerators were set up in front of hospitals where they placed the corpses. Imagine what a terrible sight it is when a person goes to look for their child among that pile of corpses," Parseghian tells Hetq.

Parseghian says the April 8 Israeli attack killed 357 and the injured 1,225. Emergency crews are still searching for those missing under the rubble.

Parseghian says that despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s April 8 announcement of a temporary ceasefire and negotiations with Iran, contradictory news about Lebanon circulated. Some sources in Iran and Pakistan, the mediator in the negotiations, reported that Lebanon was also included in the ceasefire, while the U.S. and Israel denied this. Parseghian says that the Lebanese Hezbollah party, which supports Iran, stopped its attacks on Israel for a time, while Israel did not stop attacking Lebanon for a minute.

“It was around noon on April 8 when the powerful strikes shook all of Beirut. Hundreds of sites were attacked, and 160 bombs fell in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon in the matter of ten minutes,” Parseghian says, noting that Israel had also targeted neighborhoods in Beirut that were not Hezbollah strongholds. 

“Those areas were targeted without any warning, which is why they caused so many casualties,” says Parseghian. “Israel, of late, usually warned that it was going to hit an area, even specifying the building to be hit. But this was a complete surprise. It was a crowded area, busy streets. It was terrifying.”

The international community began to put pressure on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon after the April 8 bombing. On April 9, however, Israel expanded its range of targets, which also included two large hospitals. They were housing the wounded and those injured from the previous day's attack.

Parseghian assumes it was most likely due to international pressure that the April 9 Israeli attack was halted and the wave of bombings of Beirut eased. The situation remains tense.

"Low-flying drones continue, especially at night. We hear their sounds, but the attacks on Beirut have stopped for several days. Fighting and bombings continue in the south. Israel not only strikes, but also blows up houses, hits bridges, uses internationally banned substances, phosphorus, and the like, and destroys entire areas. The situation in the south remains quite tense and dangerous,” Parseghian told Hetq on April 11.

Parseghian says Israel has also targeted firefighters, health workers, Red Cross workers, and journalists.

“One story is more terrible than the other. You can’t watch the news on social networks, witness the state of children and mothers, without getting teary-eyed. It’s a horrible thing that the human brain and conscience can no longer accept. Experts say it all amounts to war crimes. Some Christian areas were also targeted of late. These are crimes, forbidden acts committed by Israel," says Parseghian, adding that it’s not clear who must punish, and who must pay compensation, for all those killed, wounded and those who remain missing.

The number of those displaced in Lebanon grows daily, especially from the south of the country and Beirut’s southern suburbs. Some have temporarily settled close to the southern regions since they hope to return to their homes. The Lebanese government has provided some of the displaced with temporary housing, but many remain on the streets.

“When we hear Israeli drones and military jets, we know something bad is coming. That someone’s house will be demolished, someone’s life will be taken. There is a widespread atmosphere of fear and dread. This is also a war of nerves,” says Parseghian.

See:

• Lebanese-Armenian MP Says Community is Working to Maintain Normal Life Despite Israel’s Invasion
• Lebanon: 100 Arab Families Seek Shelter from War in Anjar

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