An Australian woman trapped in Lebanon and scrambling to find a way to flee the war-torn country says she feels like she’s ‘waiting to die’ as the Middle East conflict worsens.
Teacher Josiane Vekas, 49, travelled from Adelaide to Lebanon six weeks ago to visit family but is now holed up on the outskirts of the nation’s capital Beirut as Israel conducts devastating airstrikes against Hezbollah militia and troops roll across the southern border.
Despite making desperate attempts to flee by air and boat, Ms Vekas says she has been thwarted at every turn.
Her husband Ferenc back home in Australia claims that the federal government has offered no assistance in helping his wife escape, despite officials securing seats on flights for stranded Aussies.
Ms Vekas described being stuck in a warzone is terrifying.
‘We hear the planes flying in the sky and sometimes they are very very low and the sound is scary,’ she told Nine News.
‘Plus at night, when they are bombing or attacking we hear the explosions.’
‘If they attack this area we will be done.’
Australian Josiane Vekas (pictured left with husband Ferenc Vekas) is currently stranded in war-torn Lebanon
Ms Vekas added that the situation is getting worse each day.
‘There’s nothing left, no buildings, no cars, no home… nothing… kids are injured,’ she said.
‘It’s like you can see the war in front of you and you can’t do anything.’
Ms Vekas said she had two flights back to Australia cancelled.
She also faces increasing challenges of getting to airport.
‘Even the taxi is afraid to take me to the airport… no one will take me to the airport…but even if I go to the airport, there’s no flights,’ she said
‘You sit at home, and you wait. When will it be our turn? It’s so frustrating. Just sitting and waiting to die.’
Ms Vekas has had two flights cancelled and now has trouble even finding a taxi driver willing to do to the airport (pictured)
Ms Vekas even tried taking a boat from Beirut to Cyprus, which also posed risks.
‘The captain told me if there’s waves, and high waves… it’s for the safety of everyone…we don’t take this trip, so it’s cancelled,’ she said.
Her husband Ferenc said the federal government had not been any help.
‘I haven’t really heard too much from the Australian government apart from you read in the news,’ he said.
‘There has been no real communication with them so I’ve found that disappointing.’
Mr Vekas hasn’t given up hope of getting home safely.
‘We have hope. We have hope that they will finish this soon, please,’ she said.
More than 1700 Aussies registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been asked to leave Lebanon have asked to leave.
The federal government has secured 500 seats for Australia citizens on two flights leaving Lebanon on Saturday. Both flights have a stopover in Cyprus.
‘What I would say to Australians who wish to leave, please take whatever option is available to you,’ Australian foreign affairs minister Penny Wong said.
‘Please do not wait for your preferred route.’
The federal government also reportedly secured 80 seats on flights leaving Lebanon on Thursday but only 35 Aussie citizens took up the offer..
Israel’s intensive bombing campaign in Lebanon has led to the displacement of 1.2million people, according to the Lebanese government
The burgeoning conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has resulted in huge loss of civilian life and the displacement of some 1.2million people, according to the Lebanese government.
An Israeli strike in Beirut last night killed two people and wounded 11, the Lebanese health ministry reported.
The health system is now ‘struggling to cope’, with hospitals overwhelmed by the influx of people caught up in Israel’s bombing of the capital and the south, where it says Hezbollah maintains strongholds.
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