Displaced Lebanese celebrate Eid as Gulf states weigh response to Iranian strikes
發佈日期: 2026-03-19 20:25
TVB News
In Lebanon, displaced families are bracing for the Eid al-Fitr festival while trying to keep their Ramadan customs amid renewed Israeli attacks across the country.
As Tehran kept up its missile attacks on neighbouring countries, foreign ministers of 12 Gulf states are meeting in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, warning that they have significant capabilities with which to respond to the strikes.
The Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan is around the corner.
Many displaced families in Lebanon, who normally would have been shopping for meat and sweets to break the fast, had to keep Ramadan observances in shelters in the runup to a festival marred by hardship.
In Sidon, a displaced woman said it's such a shame for Ramadan to have passed without them being able to fast or to buy anything, proclaiming "We're now living in hell."
Scores of people were reduced to sleeping in tents on the streets or in their vehicles, while others scrambled to find makeshift arrangements.
In capital Beirut, paper and plastic lanterns adorned the hallways of a school that has been converted into a shelter for hundreds, as people gathered to recapture a taste of the holiday traditions.
The Lebanese government said more than one million residents were forced to flee their homes and at least 912 people have been killed since the last round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Although the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most commercial traffic, at least 89 ships got through since the start of the Iran war, including 16 oil tankers. Over one-fifth of the vessels were reported to be Iran-affiliated. There are also ships affiliated with India and Pakistan or heading to China.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers of Gulf states are gathering in Riyadh for a pivotal meeting to tackle escalating Middle East tensions.
This as Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra Air Base which hosts about 2,000 American troops came under attack on March 15th. Video showed one set of hangars to the northwest of the base damaged and another hangar to the southeast of the facility shredded by fire.
Saudi Arabia, which had intercepted four ballistic missiles from Iran ahead of the talks, called for an end to hostilities on countries not directly involved in the conflict.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said: "The targeting of Riyadh, while a number of diplomats are meeting, I cannot see as coincidental. And I think that's the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy. It doesn't believe in talking to its neighbours. It tries to pressure its neighbours. And what I can say categorically, that's not going to work. The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure. And on the contrary, this pressure will backfire."
