Here's a first-hand account of the current situation in Lebanon by a local mathematician (and mother of one baby):

Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 08:00:09 +0100 (BST)

Dear Yasser,
Many thanks for your e-mail...I am speechless beyond imagination. We are going well...by that I mean weare still all alive.They are hitting everywhere....not just the military strongholds..they arekilling civilians and not militants...they are destroying homes andbuildings...not offices...the shelling is close to all of us, be thatsouth of beirut, or west of it near the sea..where i live. Aircrafts keepbuzzing over our heads all day and night...warships fire from ourside...homes are tumbling on top of their occupants...fuel supplies arebecoming a problem...food and water, and milk for babies...all about to goshort with the complete blockade...no one to escape from air, sea or land,except if being evecuated by their "home" embassies...yes, we're going well...only to live this nightmare.thanks for checking on us...and hope to speak to you on a happier not,though I think I have lost the will to dream of a happier life in thisplace.
Fatima