Beirut (AsiaNews) – Israel's offensive in Lebanon continues as air strikes on the Lebanese capital resumed last night. Eyewitness accounts say that residents are completely worn out whilst some observers fear that should the Beirut airport reopen there might be a Christian exodus from the land of the cedar tree.

Israeli aircraft started hitting Beirut's southern neighbourhoodsagain; the area is considered a Hezbollah's stronghold. The capital had known a lull of a few days after hostilities broke out on July 12.

The region of Akkar, in the north of the country near the Syrian border was also hit by Israeli planes as ground operations by some 10,000 Israeli troops were underway in the south.

Hezbollah's militias were also not idle. This morning rockets were launched into northern Galilee.

Witnesses told AsiaNews that the Lebanese feel abandoned and without hope. People just want to get back to living in peace and are tired hearing about political and diplomatic plans. "We want to go back to school, fill up our cars with gas," some said. "Lebanon is a country that has been abandoned, and people are jobless and hopeless."

The Lebanese government itself has not been spared criticism. Maronite Fr Louis Samaha, who heads the local Caritas, has called on public aid agencies to do more for the population.

Within the general crisis there are also fears about the future of the country's Christian community. Some suggest that up to 70 per cent of the Christians that are still left in Lebanon is ready to leave as soon as Beirut airport reopens.

According to Mgr Bechara Rai, Maronite bishop of Jbeil, it is a real crisis for Lebanese Christians. If the "New Middle East" project that some have envisaged is implemented it may be too late for Christians.

The concern though is not limited to Lebanon but touches Christians across the Middle East. Pope John Paul II himself said that "the Christian presence in Lebanon is a necessary condition for the presence of Christians in the Middle East".

In light of the situation the Lebanese have welcomed the solidarity towards the region which Benedict XVI has expressed and continues to express, especially after he specifically referred to the horror that befell the town of Qana.

In Israel, the inquiry into the bombing of Qana that caused an international backlash against Israel released its report, concluding that the attack "was a mistake". Israel would not have bombed the building had it known civilians were inside, the military statement said.

According to Lebanese authorities 54 people died in the attack, many of them children. An investigation by Human Rights Watch reported 28 known dead and 13 missing. (YH)