'I am so scared' Talk of resistance in Lebanon as war opens old wounds

The three women sat in the darkened living room. The electricity had cut out and there was a problem with the neighbourhood generator. On a low table between them was a large rakwe coffee pot, small cups and an ashtray brimming with cigarette butts.

- Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

Lubban poured the black coffee into the cups of her elderly mother and their visiting friend. "I'm so scared, I can't fall asleep. I stay awake watching the news until dawn," says Lubban, nodding towards the aged TV set, which is nestled between shelves displaying porcelain dishes.

For the past two weeks, Lebanese citizens have been asking themselves and their neighbours: will there be a war?

Skirmishes have been going on along the de facto Lebanese-Israeli boundary, a UN blue line, with Hezbollah fighters firing rockets at Israeli military positions and settlements, while Israel has fired missiles and sent armed drones to target Hezbollah fighters.

The tempo of the attacks and counterattacks has escalated sharply in the past few days, and Hezbollah has threatened to back Hamas if Israel launches its promised ground war in Gaza

During the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, in the densely populated Dhahiye neighbourhood - Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's suburbs Israeli jets turned whole residential blocks into piles of concrete, twisted metal and broken furniture. Hundreds of people were killed, and most residents fled, seeking refuge in neighbouring Syria or in other parts of Lebanon.