Israel-Lebanon Conflict: Amid displacement, Lebanese cling to 'hope of returning home to rebuild'

Now let's move the story to the Middle East. A wave of fire and fury is sweeping across the occupied West Bank. Two mosques were torched overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack just days after deadly clashes killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers. In Kusra, attackers spray-painted messages including Revenge Benayahu, that's a reference to Israeli soldier killed days earlier, and the land of Israel is redeemed with blood. Those were the graffiti statements there. In our nearby Kur, three people in civilian clothes were reportedly seen setting off the blast. Israeli forces say that they are investigating the incidents for now. Now let's just move on to the other front because Lebanon's fragile post-war calm is facing a new test today as the army accuses Israel of obstructing its deployment in the south. Beirut says that Israeli forces are continuing strikes, bulldozing homes and firing near Lebanese army positions, preventing troops from taking control of areas covered by last month's US-brokered deal. The warning also comes as soldiers move into Zawtar al-Gharbia, that's in Nabatiyah, roughly 10 kilometers from the Israeli border. Residents here are returning to streets of rubble and burnt-out homes. You can see in the images there they're demanding security after a conflict that has killed more than 4,300 people. Let's bring in Christopher Rassi, Chief of Staff and Under-Secretary General for People and Strategy at the International Federation for the Red Cross. He joins us right now from Beirut. Thank you so much Christopher. We understand in terms of the humanitarian situation as things are, 375,000 people are still displaced, many facing difficult conditions in shelters. What exactly are the biggest challenges that your organization is seeing and what can possibly be done to alleviate the situation? Thanks very much for having me. I am in Beirut. I spent the weekend so far visiting the south, going through to Nabatiyah, traveling around Nabatiyah, also traveling to Zawtar. You just heard that that's one of the three pilot zones right now, so quite an important visit for me and for my organization as we traveled with the Lebanese Red Cross, who have been working non-stop for the last several months. They have been working non-stop for many years in related matters to provide support to those that are affected. What we saw together traveling through Nabatiyah was destruction, not just buildings, whole blocks at times. I know some of the footage that you're showing right now will show some of what we've seen. That just shows you that the needs are immense and the needs will remain for some time. There will be continued search and rescue. There will be continued health needs, mobile health clinics that will be able to make their way to these affected areas. Flood services, which is something that's very important and something the Lebanese Red Cross provides throughout the country. Psychosocial support and protection support to all those affected, particularly children. You gave the number of those, hundreds of thousands of children are affected right now too. The psychosocial needs for those children in particular are immense. Just basic health, continued immunization, which is something that we continue to provide throughout the hostilities. All of this, including as we move into these zones, some shelter will still be needed. As we're seeing, while there's hope as we move as families, and they were lining up outside of Zaata when I was there, lining up to go back in to one of these pilot zones. It's great that the authorities are able to facilitate that, but it will take time. It will take time for a sense of normalcy. Christopher, you speak about all the health issues that you have to contend with, even the psychoanalysis and the trauma that many of these children are facing as well. This is a massive, it's a gargantuan effort from your organization that is needed, I'm sure. In terms of funding to help these families, where do you stand right now? There's never enough funding. I mean, we've had wonderful support and we continue to have wonderful support from the international community, from major donors. And we want to continue, and that solidarity is needed now more than ever. Even if there's a sense of normalcy, even as people return home, but even walking around Nabatiyeh, the streets are empty still. It'll take time to be able to bring people back home, to give them a place to live, a place that's comfortable, a place that they can feel secure, where their homes and where their services are able to be provided to them. No matter how prepared the Lebanese Red Cross was, and continues to be, to provide those services, it's not something that'll take probably a few weeks or a few months at all. This will be a long-term effort to bring normalcy, dignity, and recovery to, as you said, hundreds of thousands, actually more than one million people who are affected, who are displaced, not only in the south, not only in Nabatiyeh or in Zata or the other pilot zones, but throughout the country. And that's what we see, that's what we see as we travel around. And Christopher, as you travel, you're talking about going to these areas. Nabatiyeh is not a safe area. It has been constantly bombarded. There are still clashes, well, not as much in the past couple of days, but we have seen them and documented them. Hezbollah positions, the Israeli army, very much over the border there. Just how do you keep your volunteers safe in those conditions? I mean, are you not worried going to these places? Everywhere we work, whether it's in Lebanon or other countries around the world, the protection of humanitarian personnel is so critical. And it's something that, of course, the Red Cross, Red Crescent has protection, has our emblems to protect us. But that also requires adherence by states and parties. And it's something we call for. We call for that continued respect to be able to provide that protection. We've already, in Lebanon alone, over the last few months, lost two colleagues from the Lebanese Red Cross in the line of duty. We've had eight injuries, including two recently as the Lebanese Red Cross was called in to support moving into one of the pilot zones, and this has to be seen as a priority. And it's something that I know many are calling for, and we're grateful for that continued call for the protection of humanitarian personnel. But we do this through training, we do this through equipment, and it's something that's very important to us. And in addition to supporting initiatives, such as the humanitarian response work in Lebanon, this is something that we also need further support to be able to promote. Just very quickly, Christopher, in terms of the logistics of how you operate, is the Lebanese army helping you facilitate and go to these areas? Who are you working with? Are you embedded with someone to actually protect you? We're not embedded, no. This is something that we do ourselves, the Red Cross, Red Crescent does itself. Of course, we communicate with authorities. Authorities know that we're coming in. In the case of Lebanon, they're called in. The Lebanese Red Cross is called in to provide support to come in. Emergency medical services are called in to respond, particularly in the south of Lebanon. I think around the Navatieh Emergency Medical Service Station alone over the last few months, there've been 4,000 calls for assistance nationwide. It's many, many times more than that. And this is just what the Red Cross, Red Crescent does. And Lebanon, Lebanese Red Cross, accepted countrywide, we're supporting them to have even greater reach. And that's just what they do, day in and day out, before, during, and after any crisis. Now, just a final word. When we hear of the devastation and destruction in these parts of the world, of course, we want, as bystanders, to actually hear messages of hope. Do you have any? I do. I think that watching families go home, watching them line up outside Zatar, and be able to go home, to see that chance to go home. Now, of course, we'll support them in what they see. We'll support them to make sure that it's safe for them to be able to go home, that they have everything they need to be able to live comfortably. It'll take time, but there is hope. And with the Lebanese, it's not my first visit to Lebanon and traveling around and talking to the Lebanese. I do see that hope. We see the resilience. We see the hope. We see that sort of that desire to go back home, to rebuild. And I saw it also when I was walking around Nabatiyah, in destruction, and a coffee shop, a little coffee cart, sorry, not a shop, was opened up, and they offered me a coffee. And just to see that friendship, that solidarity, is something that I'll take with me back as we continue to prioritize this work. And unwavering Lebanese hospitality, as always. Thank you so much, Christopher Rassi, for joining us here on The World Roundup Show.