Until the start of Israel’s ground invasion, a Lebanese army unit had stayed in Rmeish and helped organise movement in and out of the town. But as Israeli forces moved to cross the border, the Lebanese army – which is not directly involved in the war – decided to pull out of Rmeish, much to the distress of locals.
The Lebanese army said it rejected the description that they have ‘withdrawn’ from border locations, referring the BBC to a statement that the army is “repositioning” a number of military units in the south.
Then at the end of October, the main route out of Rmeish itself was hit – leaving residents feeling further isolated and vulnerable. Since then, just one aid convoy has reached the town with the coordination of UN peacekeeping forces, the Unifil mission said.
“We have needs for fuel, foods and medicines, there was a delivery coming from Tyre that had to turn around,” says Father al-Ameel. “If someone is hurt, there’s no hospital for serious medical care.”
Mayor Al-Alam tells us he is optimistic that the route out of town will be regularly usable again soon, so they can fill up their fuel reserves, even if the route through an active warzone is dangerous.
Others in the town remain anxious.
“The situation is really bad. There are no goods, no food or fuel coming through. We’re starting to see items going missing from the shelves,” says Jiries al-Alam, the town undertaker.
“But we’ll find a way through. Now is the olive season and in the worst case we can just eat olives. We want to stay in our homes and so we will die in our homes if we have to.”
