Beirut, Lebanon - Recent

Presumption of a looming war has stirred panic among residents and visitors in Lebanon amid the escalation of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah following the assassination of Hezbollah senior commander Fouad Shokor and Hamas chief Ismael Haniyeh.

As many countries have increased calls for their nationals to leave Lebanon, the Lebanese are living under the burden of repeated warnings from foreign embassies urging their nationals to leave Lebanon in recent days.

The warnings have also affected Lebanese expatriates, who have canceled or shortened their vacations, leading to an increase in the daily pace of departures from Beirut airport, while some experts believe that these calls are just pressures exerted on the Lebanese government by some Western countries.

The main streets and downtown Beirut seem almost empty in the middle of the day. People are following the warnings from embassies and preparing to flee outside of Beirut and its suburbs in the event of war breaking out.

Since the beginning of the escalation between Hezbollah and Israel last October, dozens of Lebanese have been killed in the southern part of the country, and nearly 100,000 citizens have fled to the north, fearing being bombed.

Shotlist:
Beirut, Lebanon - Recent:
1. National flag of Lebanon, buildings;
2. Various of travelers in an airport;
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic dubbed with French) Mohamed Chamseddine, researcher, International Information Society (partially covered by shot 4):
"Unfortunately, these calls have a negative impact on the Lebanese because they have started to say that there is a fear of war. The Lebanese say that if these countries advise their citizens to leave, then the war is near. The impact of these calls is clear, we are starting to notice: an increase in the movement of departures, I mean, the average daily traffic at the airport was 10,000 to 11,000 departures and it is now reaching 14,000 currently. There are many Lebanese who are also trying to leave the country.";
[SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE ]
4. Traffic;
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5. Various of traffic;
6. Various of travelers in an airport;
7. Various of traffic;
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic dubbed with French) Wessam Ismail, researcher in international affairs:
"These calls are considered a normal procedure, but we are supposed to differentiate between those who address this issue from a security point of view, fearing that the region will go to war, and those who address this issue from a political point of view, as some countries have called on their citizens more than once to leave Lebanon. In my opinion, this call is considered an attempt to dissuade the Lebanese government to pressure the resistance not to go to war with Israel. I think that so far, reality has indicated a response from the resistance. Within the framework of certain rules of engagement, it excludes the assumption of an open war against Lebanon.";
9. Various of traffic;
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic dubbed with French) Mohamed Naous, resident of Beirut:
"We will leave the city if they attack Beirut. We will leave Beirut, go to the mountains or something and rent a house.";
11. National flag of Lebanon;
12. Traffic, buildings.

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