In Battered Lebanon, a Lone Gas Station Is a Lifeline in the East

The gas station is nestled on the side of the road, a lone hive of liveliness in an otherwise deserted stretch of eastern Lebanon.By 9 a.m., a steady stream of cars is already pulling up to its pump, and the station’s owner, Ali Jawad, waves them in one by one.They are neighbors, doctors, rescue workers, among the few people remaining in an area that has been hit with near-daily Israeli airstrikes.

As he fills up their tanks, they share the latest news — the buildings destroyed, the friends injured, the neighbors killed.In between pumping fuel, Mr.Jawad fields calls from people who have fled, asking if the road has been hit and if their homes have survived another night of strikes.

The few drivers passing by honk, and he waves as if to say: Yes, I’m still here, too.“I’m never leaving,” Mr.Jawad, 56, said one recent morning.

“It’s my duty to stay, to help people here.”Mr.Jawad’s gas station is the last one still open on the outskirts of Baalbek, a city of ancient Roman ruins in eastern Lebanon that has nearly emptied over the past two weeks as most residents fled the barrage of Israeli airstrikes.For those who have stayed, the station has become a badly needed lifeline.

Today it is a town square of sorts, a hub for essential commodities as the war has intensified: fuel, friendship and information.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....