Backhoes work is in full swing to remove debris of the destroyed houses.

BEIRUT — Backhoes work is in full swing throughout Beirut's southern suburb to remove rubble of houses and shops damaged by the month-long Israeli offensive, with thousands of volunteers joining hands to rebuild the badly destroyed region.

"I have joined my colleagues to remove the debris of the destroyed houses," Hussein told IslamOnline.net Saturday, August 26, while dumping the debris into a truck.

"So far, we could have cleaned up half of the debris as we re working for more than 10 hours a day," he averred.

The southern suburb has turned into a hive of activity to rebuild the area after the devastating Israeli attacks.

Volunteers have been busy with cleaning up the debris and dumping it into trucks while others were working to salvage what they can from the destroyed buildings.

Other groups of volunteers busied themselves with preparing meals for residents while their colleagues were preoccupied with drawing diagrams showing new designs of rebuilding the damaged buildings.

"There are around 6,000 volunteers, including engineers, university students, workers and craftsmen, working throughout the day to rebuild the area," Ghassan Darwish, a Hizbullah official in charge of the rebuilding of southern suburb, told IOL.

"They did not only come from the southern suburbs, but also from other Lebanese areas."

The southern suburb, which houses Hizbullah headquarters and associated agencies, including the television station Al Manar, has been under relentless Israeli attacks during the 34-day offensive.

The Israeli blistering onslaught has destroyed and damaged thousands of houses and shops in the area.

Lebanese authorities estimated last week that direct structural damage inflicted by the Israeli offensive reached 3.6 billion dollars, including 15,000 housing units, 80 bridges and 94 roads destroyed or damaged.

Resolved

Darwish said that it could take between a year and 18 months to rebuild the southern suburb.

"But we are resolved to get it done," he averred.

Darwish said that Hizbullah was also working to provide accommodations for people who lost their houses in the Israeli blitz until the rebuilding process is completed.

"Hizbullah can never forget those who suffered because of their support to the resistance group, or those whose houses were destroyed or were forced to evacuate their areas.

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to rebuild 15,000 homes demolished by the Israeli offensive and housing hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.

"Once the cease fire took effect, the resistance group has immediately begun the rebuilding process," Darwish averred.

A senior US official told Reuters on Friday, August 18, that the Bush administration was trying to step up aid to Lebanon in a bid to counter Hizbullah rebuilding initiative.

The Hizbullah official said that the Israeli attacks destroyed thousands of houses in the area.

"Some 8,000 housing units were totally destroyed and 12,000 others were partially damaged during the Israeli blitz."

"An estimated 100 Hizbullah headquarters were also destroyed in the Israeli attacks," he added.

Joyful

Despite the vast devastation in the area, signs of pride and joy could be seen on the faces of residents in the southern suburb.

Loudspeakers could be heard blaring with patriotic songs and addresses of the Hizbullah chief.

Many shops in the area are selling Hizbullah flags along with the Lebanese national flags. Posters and T-shirts carrying Nasrallah's pictures are also on display.

"One of the flourishing businesses now is Nasrallah's posters and cassettes containing his addresses," said a female worker at a shop in the area.

"CDs and cassettes about Hizbullah victory are the best-selling now."

Hizbullah has proved un-easy meet to the Israeli military juggernaut.

At least 123 Israeli soldiers were killed and thousands others wounded in fierce battles with well-trained Hizbullah fighters.

Hizbullah also shot down at least four Apache helicopters and destroyed one warship, a fast-speed patrol in addition to around 124 of Israel's pride Merkava tanks, each costing 4.4 million dollars.

At least twelve armored vehicle and personnel carriers were also damaged during the war, according to a tally prepared by IOL based on Israeli media and official reports.

Up to 1,287 Lebanese civilian were killed when Israeli launched a wide-scale offensive in Lebanon on July 12.

The 34-day Israeli blitz, which came to a halt on August 14 under a UN-brokered truce, also displaced one million people.