“I hope that we move forward in the next day or two, things will crystallize, and that the parties will be prepared to do this

BERLIN (Reuters) – Several thousand people in Berlin protested against Israel’s bombing campaign in Lebanon on Friday, joining angry protests across the Middle East this week.

The heavily shelled districts of southern Beirut resemble a ghost town. Most of the residents of Hizbollah’s heartland have fled the Israeli air strikes. Those that have stayed either lack the means to escape or remain as an act of defiance.