Fear and anger grip Lebanese in West Africa as they witness war from afar

Israeli air strikes in Lebanon have sent shockwaves through West Africa's Lebanese community, which comprises several hundred thousand members of the diaspora.

Three of them tell AFP how they are living vicariously through the violence -- from Senegal's capital, Dakar, to the economic hub of Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Nigeria's megacity Lagos.

From sadness to fear and anger, they speak of the solidarity that underpins their community:

 Zoheir Zeidan, Dakar  

Zeidan, a 61-year-old director of a telecoms company and a Shiite Muslim, said that he had been expecting Israel to eventually strike Lebanon since the war in Gaza began a year ago.

"We knew that Israel's next step would be Lebanon" from where Iran-backed Hezbollah operates, he added.

"On the first day of Israel's attack (on Lebanon), a close childhood friend of mine, who I grew up with here, had a bomb dropped on his house," Zeidan said, referring to the intensification of Israel's campaign that began in September.

Israel expanded operations in Lebanon nearly a year after Hezbollah opened a front in support of its Palestinian ally, Hamas, following the deadliest attack in its history on October 7, 2023.

"I received photos from (another) friend. Then we looked. It was him, his mother, his brother," he added. They were all dead.

"My friend said to me, 'Expect there to be more.' And since that day, we've been on alert."

"I have aunts and cousins in Tyre in the south of Lebanon who left, who set off straight away when the problems started. But as we see that Israel is beginning to extend its influence over the whole of the Beirut area, it could be at any time" that they are affected, Zeidan said.

"Material support is provided through supply, distribution, and money transfer chains via several groups based in Dakar, Abidjan, Nigeria and Lebanon," he added.

"My cousin in Beirut sent me a message saying, 'We have a group ready, mobilize everyone and see what you can do: nappies, towels, products for women and children, all these things are good to take.'"

"I feel sad and angry," Zeidan said.

"Sad because we find ourselves in a situation where we can lose a country overnight and find ourselves the new Palestinians of the land.

"And anger because of the powerlessness we have today in seeing what is happening and the indifference of the West to this situation, which appals us," he said.

  Zara Mirza-Branger, Abidjan  

"My parents used to live here in Ivory Coast, but they returned to Lebanon six years ago because of my mother's health," said the 31-year-old sales assistant, who was born in Lebanon to a Shiite mother and Sunni father.

"There was a lot of bombing around them, they were in Tyre" and "took refuge in a house in Beirut" about two weeks ago, she added.

"We're always watching the news, we can't even think about working any more. Every time we hear that they've bombed, we call my parents. We try to send them money, to help as much as we can," she said.

"If all this stops, if they go back south and don't find a house, then we really won't know what to do.

"We'll have to bring them back here, or to my family in Gabon, in France or wherever. Right now they're trying to leave Lebanon, but it's a risk for my mother," she added.

"We have groups here that are trying to collect aid, whether it's clothes, money, food, especially milk for the babies, medicines that they don't have, nappies, so a bit of everything," Mirza-Branger explained.

"The situation is really catastrophic, and what we want is for all this to stop," she added.

Among Abidjan's Lebanese community, "every discussion is about the war in Lebanon. Even where I work in the clothes shop, when we call the customers, everyone is sad," she said.

"If it rains in Lebanon, Ivory Coast gets wet."

 George Chaanine, Lagos  

"We are very worried about the situation," said the 31-year-old business owner from the Maronite Christian community, who has spent most of his life in Nigeria.

"Because this time around... the war is almost in different parts of Lebanon and not just in certain areas," he said.

"We create WhatsApp groups where we all make donations," Chaanine said.

"The manufacturers in Lebanon have a hard time bringing in raw materials into the country due to the war... the shipping lines are taking longer to reach Lebanon," he added.

"Importing goods from Lebanon becomes significantly harder, prices go up," Chaanine said.

"You're trying to bring your family out from the country, but it becomes difficult because the demand has exponentially increased," he explained.