ACCLAIMED West Belfast filmmaker Sean Murray says nowhere is safe in Lebanon as the crisis in the Middle East escalates.

Sean is currently in Beirut where he has been working on a film. On 30 September, Israel escalated the conflict in the region with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon while it has been carrying out airstrikes throughout the country.

Speaking to the Andersonstown News from Beirut, Sean explained: "I have been back and forth to Lebanon for most of this year making a film which is now nearly finished.

"Knowing how silent the media has been on reporting what is going on in Lebanon, I felt it was important to do a bit of reporting.

"It has been trumped by the situation in Gaza and the media just don’t want to report on it.

"I was also here at the end of the war in 2006. The people here always left a lasting impression on me. There were so many parallels of them and myself growing up in the 1980s back home.

"What I see now is the demolition of Lebanon bit by bit – just like in Gaza.

"I am based in Beirut but most days I head south which is rare for a western journalist. It is very dangerous and there are a lot of risks involved.

"I have been doing a lot of work with displaced refugees from the south that are now in Beirut, including the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps."

Sean with some of the young people in Lebanon
2Gallery

Sean with some of the young people in Lebanon

Speaking about the dangers, he said: "We were caught in a bad air strike two days ago that landed on the street we were driving on. They also struck just as we left a village in the south. I knew it was pending as the drone had followed us just before. We made it just in time to the medical centre when the air strike struck.

"Two of my colleagues have been killed since last month and others have been warned by the Israelis.

"I am going back to Ireland this week but will hopefully be back in January."