It's only fireworks, Briton in Lebanon tells sons

Mahasen al-Dada fears the fighting is coming ever closer to her home

A British woman who may have to leave her husband behind to flee Lebanon with their two young sons says it is like "living in a bad dream".

Due to the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the UK Foreign Office earlier this week urged Britons to get out of the Middle East country as quickly as possible.

Mahasen al-Dada, who moved to Lebanon from Manchester in 2023, said her husband could not leave because he had to care for his disabled father.

Describing increasingly loud explosions, she said: "I don’t know what the right thing to do is."

• Live: Multiple explosions shake Beirut

• What is Hezbollah and why is Israel attacking Lebanon?

• The people fleeing Lebanon air strikes

Local officials said nearly 800 people had been killed in Lebanon since Monday following Israeli strikes.

Mrs al-Dada said many airlines had suspended flights in and out of the only civilian airport, Beirut–Rafic Hariri International.

She said a travel agent had told her there were no seats available on any direct flights from Beirut to the UK until mid-October.

British citizens still in Lebanon have been urged by the UK Foreign Office to register with them in order to receive updated advice and information.

Mahasen al-Dada has lived with her husband and two sons in Lebanon since 2023

Mrs al-Dada, a psychology and criminology graduate, said she and her husband had told their boys, aged five and six, that the regular explosions they could hear "were just fireworks".

Sultan and Saif were no longer able to go to school because of the worsening security situation, she said.

"When I mention leaving they say 'what about dad?' and I don’t know what I should say to them.

"It's a difficult situation, I don’t know what the right thing to do is.

"I've never been through anything like this living in Lebanon - it feels so surreal.

"I still can’t wrap my head around anything that’s happening."