Nobody feels safe and every day is like a week, says British mother in Lebanon
Victoria Lupton has been in Lebanon with her husband and two-year-old daughter since September 17 and has a flight out booked for Wednesday.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A British mother has said “every day feels like a week” as she and her young family wait to escape from the “terror” unfolding in Lebanon.
Victoria Lupton, 37, has been in Lebanon with her British-Lebanese husband and two-year-old daughter since September 17, when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members exploded killing dozens of people.
Israel said its latest offensive in Lebanon includes “targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah, leaving Ms Lupton feeling she is in a nation now experiencing “full-scale war”.
The UK has to has to use every diplomatic pressure to ensure that Israel is fulfilling its obligations according to international law
“Nobody in the country feels safe,” Ms Lupton told the PA news agency.
“Everybody is living in a state of terror, and it’s intensifying every day – every day is feeling like a week.”
Ms Lupton, a charity founder who divides her time between Achrafieh in Beirut and Cambridge and does not wish her family to be named, has a commercial flight booked to leave the Lebanese capital on Wednesday.
Ms Lupton has been hearing daily explosions in the Lebanese capital over the past two weeks.
The UK Government has chartered a flight out of Lebanon for Britons on Wednesday and Ms Lupton said she received an email late on Monday night explaining this, but they had already booked their commercial flight and intend to catch that.
“I think there now is a full-scale war, at least between Lebanon and and Israel,” Ms Lupton said.
“I mean, Israel just launched a ground invasion, so I don’t know how you can get much more full-scale than that.
“The UK has to has to use every diplomatic pressure to ensure that Israel is fulfilling its obligations according to international law.”
Ms Lupton, who does not wish her husband and daughter to be identified, is the founder and chief executive of Seenaryo, a non-profit which helps educate Middle Eastern women and children through theatre and play.