Ready or not

Middle East | Lebanese are nothing if not used to bombs and rubble, but a new same old conflict is underway | Mindy Belz

Two weeks ago Lebanese pastor Sami Dagher told WORLD, "Don't be surprised if in a couple of weeks the fighting is here at our doorstep." The outbreak of violence in Tripoli last week may have shocked Westerners for its sudden ferocity, but in Lebanon many saw it as sadly expected.

What is now considered the worst fighting since Lebanon's civil war 17 years ago began when Lebanese forces raided a Fatah al-Islam building north of Tripoli May 20, touching off shelling and armed clashes on both sides. The next day the conflict spread to a nearby Palestinian refugee camp where government soldiers sought to root out Fatah fighters but are prohibited by a 1969 Arab accord from entering the camps.

At least 40 in the camp and over 30 Lebanese soldiers were killed and dozens wounded as mortar rounds fell. Fatah then claimed responsibility for two powerful explosions in Beirut, one on May 20 that targeted a Christian neighborhood and another two days later, a powerful car bomb in a Sunni area that wounded at least seven.