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Beirut

- The daily road trip from the city of Tire in southern Lebanon to the Lebanese-Palestinian border, which is 20 to 40 kilometers away, is no longer as safe as before. It has become a difficult and risky task since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7. the past.

The military escalation and mutual attacks between Hezbollah and Israel forced the majority of the residents of the southern border villages and towns to leave their homes in search of a safer place, in a forced displacement journey that is renewed with every Israeli aggression against Lebanon, and their eyes remain fixed on their areas until they return to them immediately after the cessation of military operations in Lebanon. the South.

At the same time, some people are forced to go daily to the border areas despite the danger. Some of them check on their property and livelihoods, and some of them seek to earn a living in light of the stifling living and economic crisis. Among these are public taxi drivers.

Taxi driver in southern Lebanon, Muhammad Bashir, risks daily in light of the aggression to earn a living (Al Jazeera)

 One last trip!

Al Jazeera Net went to the public parking lot in the city of Tyre, and met taxi driver Muhammad Bashir, 51 years old, from the Palestinian Burj al-Shamali camp, who has been working in this profession for 37 years, and accompanied him on his trip to the Lebanese border, where he narrated the details of his diary and what... He feels a sense of nostalgia whenever he approaches Palestine and looks at it with his eyes, hoping that his return will be soon, and that the taxi ride will be his last in Lebanon.

Muhammad's day begins at six in the morning. Muhammad works patiently and endures the hardships of his profession, which these days combines life and death. He does the work he has spent his life doing with all challenge and determination, and continues to work hard to feed his family members.

Muhammad was born in Lebanon as a refugee, but his father and grandfather were from the city of Haifa, which is only 40 kilometers from the southern border. He says to Al-Jazeera Net, with regret, “How difficult it is to reach the borders of your homeland... and not be able to enter it. You only look at it and return, in a recurring daily scene.”

Taxi driver Abu Imad recounts the details of his daily routine, stressing, “I risk my life every day to work. I start from the parking lot in the city of Tyre, heading towards the Lebanese border. I carry out the task of transporting displaced people to Tyre or Beirut, or delivering customers, including the displaced. To inspect their homes at the border, and to bring with them some of their household and personal belongings.”

Exodus and adventure

“Everything has changed today, even the roads,” Abu Imad adds. “They were previously crowded with cars, but they have become almost empty. The trip has turned into an adventure because of the indiscriminate Israeli bombing of villages and towns, and everything moves on the roads.”

He recalls the memories and scenes of the July 2006 war and says, "In the face of this reality, words cannot express. The people of the border villages always pay a heavy price, face a tragic reality, and are forced to flee from their lands, homes, and livelihoods, but they are steadfast and patient with the conviction of resistance."

Abu Imad explains to Al Jazeera Net that today he is moving in dangerous areas because of the need for citizens to move between them, and that people are forced to continue life with the war. He transports customers to areas such as Marwahin, Yarin, Bint Jbeil, or any border area, and they are surprised by the extent of the destruction and damage to their property. He sighs deeply and repeats, "My heart is filled with sadness over what is happening in Gaza and the south, but we raised the nation's head."

During our journey with him, Abu Imad tells us endless stories, as he lived wars as if they were an integral part of his life. He says, and the pain does not leave him, “I once gave a ride to a man who had been bombed by Israel near his house in the town of Zibqin, south of Lebanon, and his family was inside the house. I lived with him in fear and drove the car at an insane speed. We arrived at the house and saw indescribable destruction, but thank God the family is fine. Everything is made up for, as the saying goes.” With money or children.”

Reaching the border in southern Lebanon is not the end of the risks, but rather the beginning in times of war (Al Jazeera)

Share fate

Muhammad talks about the transformations in the difficult economic conditions that the country is going through, where living is very expensive, and the displaced bear high transportation costs due to the difficult conditions. Stressing that he does not take wages from those who do not have enough money to cover transportation costs. As a Palestinian living in Lebanon, he believes that he is "doing at the very least his duty towards the people of the south who made great sacrifices for the sake of the Palestinian cause and to support its people."

He continues, saying, "Today, we, the Lebanese and Palestinian people, are one people. We share a destiny and we participate together in paying the blood tax, because of the war with an enemy that does not distinguish between civilians, women, or children. It is an enemy that does not know the meaning of morality and humanity. It is destroying our land and killing our innocent children."

As soon as we approached a signboard on the road that said “Palestine,” suddenly, without any preamble, Abu Imad’s tears flowed and he said bitterly, “I feel intense nostalgia and pain when I arrive here, and I cannot get any closer. It is not possible to visit or enter my country.” . He continues, "But I have hope that one day I will arrive and be able to enter and get closer."

At the end of our trip in his public car, “Abu Imad” confirms that the danger increases as we get closer and closer to the Lebanese border, such as the villages of Yarin, Marwahin, Al-Dhahira, Alma Al-Shaab, and others, and this makes reaching the border not the end of the risks, but rather the beginning in times of war. .

Source: Al Jazeera