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Last Updated: Friday, 21 July 2006, 16:43 GMT 17:43 UK
Voices from the conflict: Friday
Civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied territories are increasingly affected by the conflict.

Here are some of their stories.

AHLAM DIRANI, STUDENT, QASANARBA, BEKAA, LEBANON

Smoke rising after an Israeli airstrike in Baalbek
Israel has warned it could launch a full-scale ground invasion

Our village is Shia - and most of the residents support Hezbollah. We are expecting an attack.

We are not going to leave now because every part of Lebanon is in danger and it's our way of struggling against the Israeli government.

We have a family of five from southern Beirut staying with us at night. Their home has been destroyed. They are distant relatives of ours and they are welcome. They arrived four days ago.

Of course they are in danger here too, but they can't go to Christian villages in the north because Israel is blowing up vehicles on the road.

There have been lots of bomb attacks nearby, especially this morning. I am so tired and afraid, I can't sleep. It's killing people's spirits.

Today I watched Baalbek being bombed. It seemed to be a new sort of bomb because we could see the smoke rising, a big dark grey cloud. My aunt lives there, but she's OK.

It's so annoying to have the theory of human rights in our heads, but to be unable to practise it in our lives. We are victims of a political game. The countries who have no interest in Lebanon let us burn.

MARTINE GROSSMAN, NEAR AFULA, ISRAEL

Martine Grossman

I'm in the north, close by the Sea of Galilee. Five minutes ago we heard a siren and we dived into our shelter. We've just come back up.

People haven't left this village. Maybe it's stupid, but we feel quite safe - many of our houses have shelters. I'm worried, but on the other hand, where can we go?

My sister-in-law lives near Nahariya in the north. She came down to Afula to an aunt of her's, but they had no shelter, so she moved to another friend in the north. But missiles fell there, so she said where can I go? She went back home.

I'm not going to run around. I think we have to live our own lives as much as possible. It's hot here, it's not nice to be in the house all the time. But we don't want to go out because it's raining missiles at the moment.

I don't think Hezbollah's aim is very accurate. They killed two Israeli Arabs in Nazareth on Wednesday. It's terror. They're terrorising everybody, not just Jews.

I live in an area that's half Jewish and half Arab. We really live together, we have no problems. Somehow Nasrallah [Hezbollah leader] is trying to destroy that. He's trying to destroy a society that can live side by side.

FOUAD TOUBAJI, BEIRUT, LEBANON

Fouad Toubaji

I live in a suburban area just south of Beirut. It's residential with no military targets and therefore supposed to be safe. I have two teenage daughters, my wife grew up in Germany, so none of them has ever witnessed a war.

They were extremely frightened when the attacks started. There was no shelter in our neighbourhood, so we've moved to a friend's house in the mountains east of Beirut. There is a shelter here, so that gives us emotional strength.

A big problem now is the price of food, it's gone up three or four times. Today I went to a grocer's to buy half dozen cans of tuna, some hoummus and bread and that cost me $100.

We are managing for the time being, but we only have enough money for food for another three weeks. You can still find basic items in the shops, but if something gets sold out, it doesn't get replaced because of the supply disruptions. If this situation continues, I don't know what we'll do.

There are thousands of people like us who have fled their homes and there are rumours that the houses that are left behind get occupied by others or looted. So I went back to check on our house.

My sister, who is living in our mother's house, did the same, only to find her house completely destroyed. At least our house is still standing.




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