Having restored the wall of his bedroom struck by a mortar shell in late June, Ahmed Abdussalam, 33, rushed in the same night to put out a fire that broke out in his neighbor’s house which had been empty for months because of the ongoing armed conflict in the Laithi area where he lives.

Having restored the wall of his bedroom struck by a mortar shell in late June, Ahmed Abdussalam, 33, rushed in the same night to put out a fire that broke out in his neighbor’s house which had been empty for months because of the ongoing armed conflict in the Laithi area where he lives.

“One Lord and one death,” said Abdussalam when asked about the shells and bullets falling on most houses of the neighborhood. He says leaving his house would ease neither his nor the suffering of his neighbors. “It would make things worse,” says Abdussalam, “because I would have to flee to the house of one of my relatives, which has been already crowded with other displaced members of the family.”

Waiting for a ceasefire

Since the beginning of the 2011 revolution, residents of Benghazi have been waiting for the sounds of cannons and missiles to fade so they can return to their normal lives. Yet peace and chaos live side by side.

Residents of Buhdimeh and Hadaek, for example, only live a few meters away from the hotspot area of Laithi. The same applies to the residents of Sidi Younis, Salam and Ard Zuwarah who only live a few meters away from the Sabri area, one of the most violent combat zones for months. All that separates these areas is a small hill of sand and rock.

Ibrahim Sarhani, 60, says during the second week of July a C5 shell hit his apartment in the slums of the Buhdimeh area, injuring his eldest daughter with shrapnel in her right thigh and destructing half of the apartment. Sami concurs with Abdussalam that fleeing would not protect him or his family from death. This is why he returned with his family to their house the next day.

Mosques were also not spared from attacks. Last year, one person died and two others were injured after a mortar shell hit the Hamd wa Shukr Mosque in the Fwehat area in Benghazi. The residents however restored the mosque on the same day without closing it.

Military assurances

Head of Investigation Unit of Special Forces Fadl Hassi says some families live near and even within conflict areas. He classifies these families into three categories. First, the families of the fighters from either side, who support their children’s thought and stay to back them. Second, the families who have no other place to go to. Third, the families of foreign workers who cannot lose their livelihood. The number of families in conflict zones, says Hassi, does not exceed dozens at most.

At least 90,000 people have been displaced from Benghazi but also from Derna and Tobruk since mid-May 2014, according to UNHCR in June 2015.

War once reserved for battlefields

Historical researcher Ramadan Awwami says Libyans have always lived near war zones, “but not to this extent.” He believes that war and culture have changed. Fighters of ancient times used to look for a desert or open spaces to fight, while respecting mosques, churches and hospitals. “Today, citizens’ homes and honor are violated by all parties, which are no longer humane.”