‘There’s no mercy’: Lebanese expats terrified for their families after Israel says ceasefire doesn’t apply

While people around the world celebrated the news of the US and Iran ceasefire, Sara Roddis was devastated to learn that her family in Lebanon would still not get any rest from the Israeli bombardment.

Last month Ms Roddis, from Coventry, was ‘stress sick’. Most of his immediate family lives in southern Lebanon, where Israel regularly targets him.

Since fighting began between Israel and Lebanon last month, she has been “totally afraid” of one of her loved ones dying. “I cry every day,” he said Independent.

Donald Trump announced late Tuesday that the United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire. However, while Israel suspended its attacks on Iran, it carried out its biggest attack in Lebanon on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people, according to the health minister.

Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire will not include the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Ms Roddis said although she was upset, she was not surprised. “No compassion, no treating civilians as civilians, no respect for international law, no morality. That’s exactly what it feels like,” he said.

In addition to being an Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah is a political party that includes members of parliament in the Lebanese government. Banned as a terrorist organization in the UK in 2019 for attempts to destabilize activities in the Middle East.

In response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the group was founded as a guerrilla force fighting against Israel’s history of military aggression and invasion. Hezbollah is believed to have played a key role in Israel’s decision to end its 18-year occupation in 2000.

The group’s 2006 ambush of Israeli soldiers at the border sparked a month-long Lebanon war that led to mass displacement and widespread destruction. Conflicts escalated further in October 2023, when Hezbollah launched missile attacks on Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza.

In retaliation for the US and Israel’s invasion of Iran and the killing of religious leader Ali Khamenei on February 28, Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel on March 2.

Since then, Israel has launched heavy air strikes on Lebanon; It killed more than 1,500 people, including 130 children, and more than 1 million were forced to flee their homes.

“When you read a news story, it’s very sanitized… there was an attack here, in this area, this many people died, this many people were injured,” he said.

“But knowing what those streets looked like, knowing what those stores looked like, knowing who worked there, knowing what the kids looked like when they went to that school, knowing what that neighborhood looked like and knowing what it looked like afterwards, and knowing who was affected, is heartbreaking.”

His family lost their home and shop in the southern city of Tire after an attack in 2024. With nowhere else to go, about 20 of the family members now share two rooms in student housing.

Even though he regularly sends money to his family, he feels completely helpless.

He said many people could not understand the “sheer horror” and “horror” of having to constantly scan news about attacks that may have targeted your family.

“I follow most of Israeli politics. I want to know what they say from the horse’s mouth,” he said. “I have to tell my family: ‘You know they said they were going to occupy it permanently’.”

“They threatened to turn Beirut into Khan Younis,” he said. “We saw this happen in Gaza as well.”

The Israel Defense Forces “are operating in Lebanon as part of the operation against the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which has chosen to launch attacks on the State of Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime,” he said.

“Unlike Hezbollah, which operates from within the civilian population and uses civilian infrastructure to conceal weapons and conduct terrorist activities, the IDF acts to protect the Israeli population and minimize harm to civilians. Hezbollah continues to use civilians as human shields, deliberately endangering the lives of Lebanese and undermining regional stability.”

Haifaa Jawhar, a Lebanese expatriate whose mother and sister live in the suburbs of Beirut, said it was disappointing that Lebanon was left out of the ceasefire.

Ms Jawhar, who has been in the UK for 20 years, has been living in complete fear since Israel began attacking areas close to where her family lives. He constantly checks reports and calls his family to make sure they are still alive.

His 63-year-old mother had to leave her home “because of the power of the rockets, the sounds, the voices, the fear of the missile hitting the wrong target.

Ms Jawhar, who lived in Lebanon in 2006, said: “I experienced first-hand what it is like to live in the middle of the rocks. The sounds alone are terrifying.”

He said the Lebanese people were “distraught” but not surprised to learn there would be no solution on Tuesday. “Lebanon was not discussed much, nor was it at the negotiating table,” he added.

“We expect things to stay as they are: assassinations, sudden threats, sudden bombings. Nothing seems to change. This is very disappointing.

“Lebanese, even those from the South, people who have to leave their villages every two months, every three months, are tired.

“They are tired of this situation, they want solutions, they want to live in peace, they want to go home, they want to feel safe.”