Ten minutes before our telephone conversation on March 31 with Hagop Pakradouni, a member of the Lebanese parliament and head of the ARF Bureau for Middle East Affairs, Israel struck the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

Pakradouni told Hetq that the sound of Israeli warplanes in the Lebanese sky did not stop during the conversation.

Israel has invaded southern Lebanon, targeting the infrastructure of the Lebanese Hezbollah party. Israeli warplanes have bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut, a traditional stronghold of the Shiite party historically backed by Iran.

Pakradouni said the fighting in Lebanon has displaced 1.2 million people, 370,000 of whom are children. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,270, and the number of those wounded has reached 3,760.

Pakradouni shares the view of many that Israel’s main goal is to create a nine-kilometer security zone on its border with Lebanon. He says Israel has always wanted to achieve this.

Regarding the situation of the Lebanese, Pakradouni notes that the evacuees have been settled in various regions, including those with a large Armenian population.

Some 1,000 refugees have found shelter in the Armenian-populated town of Anjar in the east of the country, near the border with Syria. Anjar Mayor Setrag Havatian told Hetq that 500 refugees have been settled in their community in early March.

• Lebanon: 100 Arab Families Seek Shelter from War in Anjar

Pakradouni says that Israel targets all places where it knows or suspects the existence of offices or leaders of the Lebanese resistance movement.

“Israel does not make any distinction between its targets: television journalists, ambulance workers, scout leaders who wanted to assist refugees or victims in their mission were killed. All this is done in the face of and with the knowledge of international public opinion, which does not condemn Israeli attacks. Victims who resist the Israeli or American invasion are condemned,” Pakradouni tells Hetq.

Regarding the presence of the UN peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon since 1978 and whether it has been a deterrent or not, Pakradouni notes that the mission of the peacekeepers is primarily to monitor the border situation, but on the other hand, it is not the first time that UN peacekeeping forces have been targeted. He says that the international response to all this has been mostly condemnation, but no deterrent measures have been taken.

In late March, three UN peacekeepers were killed, and several others were injured in Israeli strikes. The victims were Indonesian citizens. Indonesia condemned the incident. Israel, in turn, has announced that it has yet to determine whether the peacekeepers were killed because of strikes by the Israeli army or Hezbollah.

Pakradouni is familiar with such a scenario.

“It’s like the first U.S. strike on the girls’ school in Iran and calling for an investigation. Why would Hezbollah strike UN peacekeeping forces? We have seen where international investigations lead. Whoever controls the media, weapons, ammunition, and political leverage emerges victorious,” says Pakradouni.

He notes that although Israel is receiving a heavy blow on the battlefield, talks about stopping the war through negotiations have not led to any tangible results. The situation remains difficult and uncertain.

Pakradouni says Armenians in Lebanon, like all Lebanese, has seen war before and are quick to adapt. He says that life in neighborhoods with a large Armenian population is proceeding normally and that schools continue to operate.

“It is true that there is fear, there are concerns. We are working to stay on our feet in this situation,” Pakradouni concludes,

Photo: from arfd.am