Journalist Sally Hayden, told Pat Kenny it remains uncertain whether people will ever return to their homes amid the ceasefire in Lebanon.
While a ten-day ceasefire has been agreed to by Lebanon and Israel, the humanitarian situation is still deteriorating, with more than a million people displaced and critical infrastructure under strain.
On the ground, overcrowded shelters are becoming flashpoints of a different kind of crisis, where access to basic care, particularly for older people and those with disabilities, is increasingly out of reach.
What’s emerging is not just a story of conflict, but of a system struggling to cope with the scale and complexity of human need.
1.1 million people at least have been displaced in a population of 5.8 million since the beginning of Israeli hostilities in Lebanon.
Sally Hayden, reporter with the Irish Times told The Pat Kenny Show it remains uncertain whether people will remain in their homes amid the ceasefire.
“People started returning literally within half an hour or an hour of the ceasefire coming into force. The roads were packed. It was almost a standstill.
“Some realised that the Israeli military was still in their area, so they couldn't get back. Some got back only to realise that their homes were destroyed and others stayed in displacement shelters”
She added that many people remained in shelters for fear the ceasefire would not hold.
Humanitarian aid packages were parachuted into the Gaza Strip earlier this week. Seven people drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach the airdropped aid. Photo: AFP via Getty“A lot of people have been buried in temporary burial sites”, she told the Pat Kenny Show on Saturday.
“Because it wasn't safe to return, they were buried somewhere else first and then their families will take them back.
“One paramedic said men have been forced to be strong to protect their families during this time and couldn’t bring themselves to leave as this was their land.”
Lebanon facing a humanitarian crisis
Sally Hayden told Newstalk it was impossible to explain the scale of hostilities as things had escalated to an all-out war.
“It’s crisis upon crisis, almost 100 medics have been killed by the Israelis so far. They are not abiding by international law.
“They don't think it applies to them. They will attack supermarkets, pharmacies. They're using the same language that they used in Gaza.”
Mrs Hayden added that many felt that the international community only cares about the plight of Lebanese people once oil prices rise.
Filling a car with fuel petrol gasoline in County Donegal, Ireland.“The message that they're receiving from that is, you know, that their lives don't matter”, she explained.
She explained that much was lacking on the ground in terms of medical services and sanitation.
“There were a lot of efforts happening by Lebanese people, you know, just coordinating themselves, helping each other, organizing aid donations and transporting things”, he said.
“There was this huge evacuation area and a lot of NGOs that I spoke to couldn't operate in that area for security reasons.
“I think everything is needed.”
Main Image: Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. Picture by: The Associated Press.
