Beirut, Lebanon - Recent

One of Beirut's most well-known nightclubs has been turned into a shelter for displaced Lebanese residents amid ongoing Israeli raids.

Sky Bar, a top nightclub in the Middle East where some of the region's renowned pop and movie stars have enjoyed evenings, is now hosting about 400 people who have fled the fighting from across Lebanon.

The government says more than 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli attacks since late September.

The Sky Bar team started by accepting some 70 people by the end of September, now they have nearly 400. VIPs who used to spend thousands of dollars a night at the club are now sponsoring the humanitarian effort, supplying the displaced here with food, clothes and a safe place to sleep.

The Hamiehs are a family of nine. They all survived the bombing of their apartment building in Beirut's southern suburb known as Dahieh, the Hezbollah stronghold hit hard by Israeli strikes.

Sahar is the glue holding the family together. She tries to provide as much care as possible for her children, to ease the trauma they've been through.

The Sky bar team provides activities to try and distract children from the buzzing of Israeli drones that surround them day and night.

Shotlist:
Beirut, Lebanon - Recent:
1. Various of Sky Bar building, entrance;
2. Hallway;
3. Various of beds, people taking shelter in clubroom;
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gaelle Irani, guest relations manager, Sky Bar (partially overlaid with shots 5-6):
"After the bombardment that happened - the first one, of [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah, everything shut down, everything stopped. So one of the owners was just passing by, just to check the premises and stuff. He saw a lot of people with no roofs, just sitting by the street, no clothes on, [very few things with them]. So he was the one who asked if they needed to be sheltered, and they said yes. This is how it started.";
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5. Street, people;
6. Various of Sky Bar shelter, piles of clothing supply;
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7. Various of shelter, people inside;
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali Hamieh, displaced resident (partially overlaid with shot 9):
"I told my relatives I was at Sky Bar. They couldn't believe it. They asked if I would pray in a bar. I said we pray and live like normal people. It used to be a nightclub, but now many reside in it, today it's like a mosque, not a nightclub.";
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9. Various of bar, bottles of spirits;
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10. Various of Hamieh family in shelter;
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sahar Ali, displaced resident/Hamieh's wife (partially overlaid with shots 12-13):
"Our neighbors and relatives are scattered all over the place, we only communicate by phone calls and ask one another 'are you ok?' or 'are you still alive?', that's the only way. Israel started attacking us in the Southern Suburb with sonic bombs, they terrified everyone. The fear left my daughter traumatized and started wetting herself. It started when she used to hear the news about people dying in some village or somebody's kid died or a building collapsed in some area and so on, she of course knew all these areas and that we live nearby.";
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12. Various of people in shelter;
13. Sahar's daughter with her father;
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14. Various of Hamieh family in shelter;
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sahar Ali, displaced resident/Hamieh's wife (partially overlaid with shot 16):
"In the 2006 war with Israel, I was never afraid. I sent my family to Syria, then volunteered at the Red Cross with other youngsters. Back then, my mom feared for my safety. Today, I fear for the safety of my kids. I remember seeing the children in Palestine in body bags, I said to myself I can never bear to face the same destiny, like the things we see happening in Palestine.";
16. Various of people in shelter;
17. Irani working, speaking to walkie-talkie;
18. Various of street, people, children playing;
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Gaelle Irani, guest relations manager, Sky Bar (partially overlaid with shot 20/ending with shot 21):
"We don't have a specific time because we don't really know when this is going to end. It could stay for months, it could stay for days. We can wake up tomorrow with nothing. So until then we need to, you know, just be there stand with our people, stand with each other and try as much as possible to do what is the best for everyone.";
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20. People in shelter;
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21. People in shelter.

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