Refugees threaten to upend Lebanon

BEIRUT -- Tens of thousands of displaced Shi'ite Muslims from southern Lebanon poured into Christian and Sunni areas of the capital yesterday, seeking refuge from a stepped-up Israeli bombing campaign in areas loyal to Hezbollah.

The tide of refugees threatened to upend the delicate sectarian balance in Beirut's neighborhoods, which still bear the shell pockmarks from 15 years of civil war that ended in 1990.

Foot soldiers of Hezbollah, the Shi'ite Islamist group behind the attacks on Israel, have organized refugee centers in Christian and Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut.

Lebanon's government called for a cease-fire and said an Israeli bomb attack on the southern city of Tyre killed nine civilians yesterday. Seven members of a Canadian family visiting relatives in Lebanon also were killed yesterday, and eight soldiers were killed this morning, bringing the death toll from the fighting to more than 150 in Lebanon.

Foreign governments, including the United States and France, prepared to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon by air or sea.

But the biggest immediate crisis for Lebanon is the wave of displaced people, which might exacerbate long-strained relations between Lebanon's sectarian factions. About 25,000 Lebanese have fled their homes, according to the government's Higher Relief Committee, which is trying to provide basic supplies like mattresses, medicine, and milk to the displaced people.

Villages in southern Lebanon emptied early yesterday afternoon after Israel issued a warning to residents of the region to prepare for a massive retaliation after a Hezbollah rocket attack killed eight Israelis in Haifa.

``When the Israelis put out the warning this morning, we started to worry about indiscriminate carpet bombing," said Assem Harb, 54 , from the village of Arab Sellem, south of Nabatiya near the border with Israel.

Shortly after noon, Harb borrowed a neighbor's car, packed in his wife, six children, and a daughter-in-law, and made the dangerous trek to Beirut from his village. By sunset, they made it to a stuffy garage under a half-built mall in the capital, joining 2,000 other displaced Shi'ites sleeping on the concrete floor, most of them without mattresses.

``The situation is dramatic because demand is increasing rapidly," said Fadi Yarak, an adviser to the Minister of Social Affairs. ``The number of the displaced is increasing hour after hour and by the time we send assistance for 30 persons, their number becomes 200."

He said the bombing and destroyed roads make it even harder for the government to deliver aid effectively.

Aid groups scrambled to fill the vacuum, like Mercy Corps, which is trying to put together a small-scale emergency relief operation over the next three days. ``This is so fast-moving and unpredictable," said David Holdridge, Mercy Corps' regional program director for the Middle East, who worked in Lebanon in the early 1980s.

``The poor Shi'ites from the south will migrate into the Christian areas, which will destabilize the country," Holdridge said.

The flow of refugees has exerted political pressure on Lebanon.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, appeared on the group's satellite television station, Al Manar, which has continued to broadcast after Israel bombed its Beirut headquarters.

``We are in our full strength and power," Nasrallah said. ``Hezbollah is not fighting a battle for Hezbollah or even for Lebanon. We are now fighting a battle for the [Islamic] nation."

Nasrallah was trying to rally supporters, as well as stave off critics who blamed Hezbollah for bringing an unwanted war on Lebanon.

Yusef Karam, a 20-year-old waiter at a cafe in Sassine Square, the political heart of Christian East Beirut, applauded at the sound of bombs exploding in the city's southern suburbs. ``I'm happy Israel is bombing Hezbollah," he said yesterday. ``I hope the Israelis kill them all. Nasrallah turned the whole country towards hell."

Toufic Al Hindi, a former adviser to the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party, said the Christians want a strong state that will preserve power-sharing between Christians and Muslims. ``We don't want to see a weak state with mini state of Hezbollah. It is not acceptable to have armed groups," he said. ``That will destroy Lebanon. This could trigger a national war."

Hezbollah has displayed its organizational prowess, mobilizing hundreds of security guards with cellphones and walkie-talkies to schools across Beirut.

The Shi'ite group sent security guards and food supplies -- canned tuna, processed cheese, and fresh bread -- to hundreds of schools across Beirut, as well as to the underground parking garage that was converted into a displaced persons camp.

``Hezbollah gives us all that we need," said Ali Shwaikani, 29, who is running a refugee center for about 100 people in a private school in a mixed neighborhood in central Beirut.

Inside one classroom, a family of 10 had taken up residence, after fleeing their home next to the Hezbollah headquarters in south Beirut, which had been destroyed by Israeli bombs.

Book dealer Fouad Yassin, 35, held his 6-day-old baby Hawra in his arms. Her vivid shock of black hair was wet with sweat.

Yassin's wife, still exhausted from giving birth while hostilities broke out between Israel and Lebanon, lay on the floor. ``We didn't go to the underground shelter because it has rats and was dirty," Yassin said, explaining why they came north to the school. ``We did not want to leave. But our kids couldn't stand it anymore."

Still, his family's dedication to Hezbollah is steadfast. ``If Sayed Hassan Nasrallah wants of us to live like this for a long, long, long, long time, we will do it," said his sister, Jumana Yassin, 27, who is a lawyer. ``You must sacrifice for your goals."

Globe correspondents Andrew Lee Butters and Rana Fil contributed reporting from Beirut.