"Yumna Moussali, her nine children and 31 grandchildren had nowhere to sleep last week. "Israeli" troops and South Lebanon Army* militiamen had bulldozed their two-story building in Arnoun. It was one of 16 houses demolished Thursday in the second wave of aggression in the past two weeks".

“We, the people of Arnoun, are the country’s living dead,” said Mrs. Moussali. “We have nothing in common with the rest of the population. We are deprived of life’s most basic necessities, and live under conditions similar to those in prisons,” she said.

“But we were still doing fine living there, because it was home,” she added.

Now, the families of her five daughters and six sons are living in rented homes in different parts of the country, including Beirut, Nabatieh, Zawtar and Harouf. Mrs. Moussali, a 65-year-old widow, is staying with a relative in Beirut’s suburbs.

Grieving families who lost their homes shared their ordeal at a sit-in Sunday at a Husseinieh in Hay al-Sellom, and voiced their concerns about the future.

“I worked hard for many years to afford to build my house. It took the "Israelis" a few minutes to knock it down,” said former Tobacco Regie employee Fatima Ajami, whose house was among the 16 demolished last Thursday.

“My hometown is a hundred times better than Beirut or any other city,” said Mrs. Ajami, also widowed, who is now staying with her only daughter in Hay al-Sellom. “I would be willing to go back and rebuild my house if the government pays me compensation.”

Occupation forces have been terrorizing Arnoun, which lies five kilometers east of Nabatieh, for over a decade.

In late December, six houses were dynamited by the occupation forces. A statement from the "Israeli" Army claimed that the buildings destroyed were used by the resistance “for bomb-planting activities.”

The five-nation Monitoring Group will consider an official complaint lodged by the Lebanese government at a meeting in Naqoura Monday.

“I never stopped caring for my land, and I certainly will not do so now,” said Insaf Karim, who lost her house 15 years ago during attacks on the village. About two weeks ago, "Israeli" and SLA soldiers destroyed her 125 olive trees.

“One day before they burned our fields, they unleashed their dogs while we were collecting olives,” said Mrs. Karim. “"Israelis" are cowards, and the proof is their aggression against peaceful civilians,” she added.

But for Fatima Jaber, returning to her three-room house, one of the few still standing in the village, is not an option. She is not willing to risk the lives of her six children after her son Hassan, an Islamic resistance fighter, died in combat 12 years ago. She now pays $250 a month to rent a small apartment in the capital’s southern suburbs.

“My children are all I have left. I would never risk their lives or see "Israelis" take them away,” said Mrs. Jaber. “I would rather be poor and hungry than become a mourning mother,” she added.
Mrs. Jaber’s fears are not unfounded. Five men from the village are detained at the Khiam camp, including 15-year old Mustafa Taoube, the youngest Lebanese detainee.

But despite the bombardment, intimidation and harsh living conditions, other residents whose houses were spared say they will go back.

“We don’t have money to go anywhere else,” said Fatima Maroun, a divorced mother of three. She plans to return to Arnoun Tuesday after having spent the past 10 days with her sister in Hay al-Sellom.