Survivors of the Summer War

In August 2006, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra reported from Lebanon on the aftermath of the 34 day war with Israel which left 1,191 civilians dead and 30,000 homes destroyed.

He found a country devastated by war but also one which took pride in the resistance Hezbollah had shown to the power of the Israeli military.

A year on Nassry Hijazi is confident that Hezbollah will not forget him

For some the war took their houses, for others their families. Retracing his journey of a year ago, Hashem investigates how the people he met in 2006 have put their lives back together and what steps the government and Hezbollah have taken to rebuild peoples homes and Lebanon’s shattered infrastructure.

In Dahiya, in the Southern suburbs of Beirut, he catches up with Nassry Hijazi, a year on still living in rented accommodation with his large family but confident that Hezbollah will not forget him.

In Bint Jbeil, close to the Israeli border, he finds the work of reconstruction under way, financed and in some cases overseen by the Gulf states.

In Qana, he returns to the Chalhoub family. Sana and Mohamed lost 27 of their family on 30th July 2006.

A year later they are trying to move on and rebuild their lives but the memory of the war and of the night the missile struck cannot be easily dispelled.

Watch this documentary of Survivors of the Summer War here:

Part One:

Part Two:

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