The Palestinian refugee camp in Rashidieh. (Credit: Lucile Wassermann/OLJ)
"But where will the Palestinians go?" asks Nehru, a resident of the Rashidieh refugee camp near Sour in southern Lebanon. This morning, residents of the camp were ordered by the Israeli army to evacuate before potential strikes on "Hezbollah targets," sparking panic and confusion within the camp, reports our correspondent in the south.
The Israeli threats, announced by the army's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, also called on other villages in southern Lebanon, including al-Hosh, Bazourieh, Bourgholieh, Bastiyyat, al-Humairi, Arzeh, Matriyet Shumar, Kharayeb and Ansar.
Residents take to the streets
This is the first time an evacuation notice has specifically targeted a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, following recent Israeli strikes on Palestinian officials in Ain al-Hilweh camp near Saida.
According to our correspondent, around a dozen families have left their homes. "Most of the camp residents have poured into the streets... Some are driving north in their own cars, others are waiting for transportation, and some are even walking to Sour, which is less than five kilometers away," says Nehru, who lives in the camp. "The camp is full of children and women... if it’s bombed, it will be a massacre."
Originally built in 1936 to shelter survivors of the Armenian genocide, the camp now houses nearly 10,000 refugees, primarily Palestinians but also Syrians, within less than half a square kilometer, according to U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) figures. A "new" section was added in 1963 by the U.N. agency.
"I'm staying in the camp"
While Rashidieh village had previously received evacuation warnings, "this is the first time the camp itself has been named directly," said Mohammad Draz, a Fateh official in the camp. He estimates that 20 to 30 percent of the camp’s population — where 2,000 families reside — had already left following threats against the village.
"We saw the evacuation order, but there hasn’t been a major wave of departures yet. People have nowhere to go. The public schools where displaced people are staying are full, everything is expensive... People prefer to stay home and see what happens. There’s fear, but we rely on God," added Draz.
Fawzi, another camp resident, has also decided to stay. "I'm still in the camp, and I won’t leave. On one hand, we have nowhere else to go. On the other, this is the third time they’ve asked Rashidieh (the village) to evacuate... Everything is normal in the camp; it’s become a kind of routine for us," said Fawzi, a father of three adult children, who also lives there.
"They took our lands in Palestine, and now they want to pursue us to Lebanon. That’s out of the question. I will stay in my home. Our lives are worth no more than those of the people in Gaza," he said.
