NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) – Lubana Ismail had simply fled her village in southern Lebanon together with her husband and two kids when she went into labour. She had swollen veins in her uterus and wanted rapid medical supervision to provide start safely.

They looked for a hospital in Beirut or Sidon that will admit her, however all have been filled with the useless and wounded.

“No hospital accepted me. We were turned away everywhere until my father suggested we go to Iraq,” she recounted.

So that they boarded a flight and flew to Najaf. It was there, in a Shi’ite pilgrimage metropolis in a former struggle zone 1,000 km (600 miles) from dwelling, that Lubana lastly gave start to child Zahraa, wholesome and protected.

The proud father, Fouad Youssef, recounted the perils of their evacuation.

“At first, we went to Tyre, but a strike hit directly next to us. We decided to go to Beirut, thinking it would be safer, but even on the way, a strike hit near us,” he said.

“Throughout our two days of displacement, I attempted to get my spouse right into a hospital as a result of her labour was tough. However as a result of excessive variety of accidents and martyrs, there have been no vacancies.”

More than a million Lebanese have fled their homes since Israel intensified its airstrikes and launched a ground campaign in southern Lebanon against the Hezbollah movement which has been striking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Imran Riza, U.N. humanitarian coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios, and too much damage was being done to civilian infrastructure.

Najaf, which accepts millions of Shi’ite pilgrims a year, is accustomed to handling the emergency medical needs of foreigners, and Iraqis have endured almost two decades of war at home. But receiving refugees from Lebanon is unexpected. Iraq’s interior ministry says around 5,700 Lebanese have arrived so far.

Lubana and Fouad are grateful to have discovered a protected place to convey their household and provides start to their daughter. However they don’t know what’s going to come subsequent.

“We are afraid the war will go on for a long time. What will happen to our children? We were preparing them for school, but now there is no education. Are we going to stay here? Are we leaving? Are we going back to our country?” contemplated Youssef, watching information of the destruction in Lebanon on his cellular display.