BEIRUT: Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport saw an influx of arrivals on Saturday as Lebanese expatriates and tourists ignored hostilities in the south and travelled to celebrate Eid Al-Adha.
European embassies had previously warned against travel to Lebanon due to the tense security situation. However, this did not deter foreigners and visitors arriving for the Eid festival, especially from Iraq and Egypt.
On the eve of the holiday, there were significant price discrepancies in sacrificial animals and an unjustified increase in meat prices on the Lebanese market.
Majed Eid, secretary of the Association of Butchers, Importers and Traders of Live Animals, said that imports of sacrificial animals from abroad have decreased this year compared to previous years.
The security situation in the Tyre region has led to reduced shopping activity in the run-up to Eid, despite the significant influx of expatriates who normally boost trade and economic activity there.
Ghazwan Halawani, secretary of the Tyre Traders Association, said preparations for Eid were going on as usual and there was no noticeable improvement in trade activity, sales or market visitors.
He attributed the decline to fear of military operations on the border and Israeli attacks on civilians.
On the eve of Eid al-Adha, despite the hostilities, thousands of families from the southern region made their way to their villages near the border.
Issa, a butcher, wanted to spend the holidays with his family, even though his area had been repeatedly shelled in recent months.
“Nothing will happen to us except what God has planned for us,” he said.
The Eid festival will be a challenge for people in the south, especially those who fled their villages eight months ago.
The Feast of Sacrifice poses major challenges for the displaced people from the south: almost 100,000 people are forced to leave their villages.
Nabatieh Governor Hwaida Turk told Arab News that 65 towns in Nabatieh governorate had been subjected to “systematic artillery shelling and arson” due to Israeli attacks.
Some towns were almost destroyed, she said.
Turk said that residents of frontline towns, especially in the Marjayoun and Hasbaya areas, had not returned for Eid.
However, the villages and towns in the hinterland are teeming with displaced persons and their original inhabitants.
She said people in the southern region were trying to celebrate the festival with hope despite the difficult economic conditions.
Hezbollah continued its retaliatory attacks on Israel on Saturday, days after one of its commanders was killed in an airstrike.
Air strikes on both sides escalated. Hezbollah said it had “launched an attack on the Khirbet Maer base with a fleet of suicide drones, destroying parts of it.”
The attack was a response to the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander, Sami Hassan Taleb, known as Abu Taleb, and three others in an Israeli attack on their position in Jouaiyya a few days ago.
The Israeli army radio station reported that a fire broke out in the settlement of Goren in the western Galilee after several Hezbollah drones attacked the area.
As the situation escalated, Hezbollah attacked the headquarters of the Air Surveillance and Operations Command Unit at the Meron base.
Israeli media reported that “two anti-tank missiles fired from the Meron base were the target.”
Hezbollah said it hit a group of Israeli soldiers at the Hadab Yaron base with a rocket, killing or wounding several.
A drone attack by the Israeli military killed a motorcyclist at the Bint Jbeil-Maroun Ras intersection early Saturday morning. Another person was injured in the ensuing fire.
The outskirts of Deir Mimas and Aaziyyeh Hill were shelled with phosphorus, causing forest fires.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed that “an Air Force plane attacked a Hezbollah vandal in Aitaroun,” adding that “the Israeli army shelled the area with artillery.”