“Within minutes, everything changed”: shock and grief in Lebanon
Gaelle and her family were enjoying a happy meal together. But within minutes, the family was shattered when their home in Lebanon was hit in a missile strike.
“We were having lunch; laughing a lot as we always do,” Gaelle said. “Then my brothers and I went down to the café my dad had opened for us. He stayed home to rest. My mum stayed with him. And a neighbour came up to have coffee. That’s normal.
“Later, we called my dad. He wasn’t answering. We were joking at first, ‘What is he doing? Is he messing with us?’”
Gaelle’s father was never to answer the phone again.
“Nothing Left”
Just days after the devastating loss of both her parents, the 27-year-old lawyer from Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town east of Beirut, shared her story with SAT-7 ARABIC’sYou Are Not Alone programme.
“We were all together,” she continues. “And then, within minutes, everything changed.”
On 5 April – Easter Sunday – Israeli airstrikes hit multiple locations across Lebanon. At least 11 people died across the country, including civilians in residential areas previously thought to be safe. Amongst them was Ain Saadeh.
“There was nothing left. No human, no stone. When I saw the house, I knew it was impossible for anyone to come out alive.
“My parents were young,” she adds. “That was the most beautiful thing in my life, that my mum and dad were young. I always thought that I would grow older and they would grow older with me.
“I prayed and thanked God for them: this great blessing You gave me – my parents’ health, my siblings by my side – nothing in the world could upset me as long as they were around.”
Grief and shock
Hundreds of families like Gaelle’s have been left in a state of grief and shock after weeks of violence in Lebanon.
Just three days after her parents lost their lives, Lebanon experienced what is now being called “Black Wednesday”. In the space of just ten minutes, over 100 strikes were launched, killing hundreds and overwhelming hospitals.
Since 2 March, when Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East conflict, approximately 2,300 people in Lebanon have been killed. Across the country, 1.2 million have been forced to flee their homes, seeking shelter with relatives, in churches, schools and temporary accommodation as the humanitarian crisis deepens.
Currently, a fragile 10-day ceasefire is in effect. But what happens next remains very uncertain, and people like Gaelle are left picking up the pieces of their shattered lives.
It is stories like hers that SAT-7 is working to bring into focus: the human reality behind the headlines – and also the role of faith during times of crisis.
“Jesus, I trust in You”
For all that Gaelle has lost in this war, faith remains.
“It’s so hard to suddenly lose the two most precious people in your life,” she said. “My mind can’t grasp it. I still can’t sleep. I wish I could, just to let time pass.
“But I talk to God. I tell Him I’m upset: ‘Why did You give me such a heavy cross?’ My shoulders are small; they can’t carry this. I tell Him, ‘You could have stopped this. You are capable of everything.’
“But in the end,” she concludes, “His will be done. Not a single hair falls without Him knowing.
“Jesus, I trust in You.”