stay behind

Still, amid the cataclysm, my mother-in-law and her neighbors tell stories of a community coming together — of lost pets evacuated as the flames were bearing down, of people checking to see that others had fled before they did, of homes saved by firefighters and others who had to stay behind.

Mustafa al-Shell estimated that about 50,000 people fled within two hours, but he added that many others decided to stay behind “for various reasons”.

The judge asked one member of the jury to stay behind as members of the public were told to leave the court.

“No one is using us as human shields. If anything, people stay behind to shield the village,” said Jasmin Lilian Diab, who is from Ain Ebel and is director of the Institute of Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University.

Ultimately, just over 180 made the journey when the invasion began, with 139 choosing to stay behind and help the war effort.