The fall-out from the war in Lebanon and those caught in its crosshairs

It makes for surreal, disturbing viewing. For days now, media channels have been broadcasting from the roof-tops of Beirut, interviewing various experts, military spokespeople and others, with the backdrop of the burning city behind it. Southern Lebanon and districts of Beirut are in the process of becoming another Gaza, with the Lebanese Foreign Minister, Abdallah Rashid Bou Habib, making the astonishing claim that shortly after the leader of Hezbollah had agreed to US and French ceasefire plans, the Israelis blew him up. 

Well over a million people are on the move. Hundreds of thousands will join them as Israel orders the evacuation of another sovereign states’ citizens from a further 20 or so villages. The escape routes into war ravaged Syria are either overwhelmed or being blocked by yet more Israeli bombing. Lebanon has been invaded on multiple occasions by the Israeli, but by common agreement, things have never been as bad as this.

There is now a rush to get foreign nationals out of Lebanon as the war enters perhaps its most dangerous phase. US nationals hoping to be airlifted out by their own airforce were last week shocked to discover that their Embassy was advising them to make their own arrangements via private airlines. Britain, meanwhile, has been readying civilian transports from its Cyprus base of RAF Akrotiri.  

Meanwhile Moroccans trapped in Beirut – the city memorably once described as the ‘Paris of the East’ - have been taking to social media to voice their plight. According to one Moroccan student on social media ‘Middle East Airlines is the only one still operating, but all of its flights are booked until October 18^th’. 

In response the Moroccan Foreign Ministry has sought to allay concerns, believing that many of its nationals have already left Lebanon.  According to a source within the Ministry, ‘The Moroccan Embassy has formed a crisis unit that maintains direct contact with members of the Moroccan community, receiving their calls, ensuing their well-being and providing guidance to secure their safety’. The same source said that; ‘We are in continuing contact with the vast majority of Moroccans remaining in Lebanon.’

Of course, some Moroccan nationals may have left already and are not responding to contact request simply because they are no longer in the country. And Morocco is not the only country in the region struggling to get its citizens out of a massively deteriorating situation on the ground. Those scenes of devastation that we are seeing on our TV screens are the everyday reality, not only for the long suffering Lebanese but also all of those caught in its path.

*Mark Seddon is a former Speechwriter to UN Secretary-General Ban ki moon & former Adviser to the Office of the President of the UN General Assembly