Qanafez elementary school, located in Hermel on the Lebanese-Syrian border, bombed on Feb. 7 by Syrian security forces. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
At the end of a dirt road in the village of Qasr, in Hermel, a mound marks where Lebanon ends, and another marks where Syria starts. There is no clear demarcation of the border. “There, the houses before the lake, that’s Syria,” said Ali Zeaiter from the mirror-glass window of his GMC.For the first time in his life, the young member of the Zeaiter clan is unable to cross the road leading to Hawik, a Syrian village less than 10 minutes away by car, where he was still selling tobacco recently. The forceful arrival of the new Syrian security forces, following the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, into a border region that was until recently dominated by Hezbollah and Lebanese Shiite tribes, has reportedly hastened the departure of tens of thousands of Lebanese who had been living there for centuries, according to clan members...
At the end of a dirt road in the village of Qasr, in Hermel, a mound marks where Lebanon ends, and another marks where Syria starts. There is no clear demarcation of the border. “There, the houses before the lake, that’s Syria,” said Ali Zeaiter from the mirror-glass window of his GMC.For the first time in his life, the young member of the Zeaiter clan is unable to cross the road leading to Hawik, a Syrian village less than 10 minutes away by car, where he was still selling tobacco recently. The forceful arrival of the new Syrian security forces, following the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024, into a border region that was until recently dominated by Hezbollah and Lebanese Shiite tribes, has reportedly hastened the departure of tens of thousands of Lebanese who had been living there for centuries, according to clan...