Bay Area family celebrates Israel-Lebanon ceasefire over Thanksgiving
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- On this Thanksgiving, Christina Dahro is thankful to be alive and surrounded by family, and knowing that her family in the Middle East is safe with the start of a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
"My dad and my brother are in Lebanon, obviously due to unfortunate situation. But I am ready to celebrate. I have like three bottles of Camus, ready to go, to celebrate the ceasefire!," says Dahro.
Dahro, who lives in San Jose, shared her daring escape out of Lebanon where she was visiting family, with ABC7 News in October. Documenting on social media the destruction on the road to the airport following Israel's stepped-up bombardment of Beirut, in an escalation in its war with Hezbollah.
She bought a $2,000 ticket for a one-hour flight to Cairo, leaving her father behind.
"All I remember is my dad just saying, 'Oh God!' Seeing that come through my WhatsApp, I just burst into tears. I was sitting by the window (on the plane). You can literally see bombs going off everywhere. It was crazy. Just knowing that we are here right now, honesty, I am thankful. I am happy," says Dahro.
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After months of cross-border bombings, the ceasefire calls for Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River. Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. A buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers. South of Lebanon has seen massive destruction. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced.
But some political analysts, such as George Bisharat, Professor Emeritus at UC Law San Francisco, don't think the 60-day truce will last, as evident in the minor fighting over the past two days.
"The so-called ceasefire went into effect very early Wednesday morning. That day and today, Israel used fire to repel what it called to be Hezbollah operatives moving back into the south of Lebanon. Under the actual terms of the ceasefire, this is not permitted," explains Professor Bisharat.
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Professor Bisharat points out that Hezbollah emerged as a resistance force against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, which lasted from the mid-1980s until 2000. He disputes the characterization of the group as a proxy of Iran.
He says Israel has accomplished most their objectives by weakening Hezbollah and killing its top leadership, making it easier for Israel to come to the negotiating table.
"They managed to secure a ceasefire on their northern front without having to meet Hezbollah's demand for there also being a ceasefire in Gaza. So, I think you could characterize that, frankly, as a victory that Israel has achieved," explain Bisharat.
But he adds, "It is not much of ceasefire when one of the sides arrogates to itself, Israel, the right to enforce he ceasefire by using force, which it has already done Wednesday and Thursday."
As for Dahro, she is part of a WhatsApp group made up of friends and family both in the U.S. and in Lebanon where they monitor the situation on ground. She knows the wars in the Middle East will take more than a ceasefire to find lasting peace. Still, she believes the ceasefire at least brings them one step closer to peace.
"My dad and my brother are safe. The streets that I walked on as a child, the people there are they are safe," says Dahro. "And I am ready to celebrate with everybody from Lebanon to here in the Bay Area. We are safe. They are safe."
