{"id":228606,"date":"2026-03-31T13:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228606\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T13:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:42:09","slug":"texas-man-recounts-escape-from-lebanon-as-strikes-intensified-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228606\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas man recounts escape from Lebanon as strikes intensified in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – More than four weeks into the war with Iran, more Americans are speaking up about their experiences in the conflict zone. A Texas man is back home after he said bombs fell just outside his window as he fled Lebanon on one of the few flights still leaving Beirut at the time. <\/p>\n

Charbel Matar, who has lived in Texas for about a decade, traveled to Lebanon on Feb. 19 to visit family. He said the final two days of his solo trip became increasingly dangerous as strikes intensified near Beirut.<\/p>\n

A Texas man is back home after fleeing Lebanon during intensified strikes near Beirut, saying bombs fell as his plane took off.<\/p>\n

With most airlines grounded, Matar said he secured a seat on Middle East Airlines, one of the only carriers that was still flying in and out of Beirut. He said his flight departed at 7:05 a.m. while bombs were actively falling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was crazy because they bombed three times before takeoff, and they bombed the last time while the plane was up in the air,\u201d Matar said. \u201cSo I recorded the thing from my window.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matar said watching strikes from the air was emotionally difficult.<\/p>\n

\"CharbelCharbel Matar, 30, took this photo from his plane window at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see it, it\u2019s so sad because you don\u2019t know. It might be your cousin next to it, and it might be someone that you don\u2019t know, but he\u2019s still from Lebanon. He\u2019s Lebanese. He\u2019s like you,\u201d Matar said. \u201cAnd it could be your house, straight, but you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matar, 30, manages Houston Autoplex, a wholesale car company where he has worked for a decade. He grew up in Byblos, a city on Lebanon\u2019s Mediterranean coast, and said living through repeated conflict there shaped how he stayed calm during his escape.<\/p>\n

\"HoustonHouston Autoplex, “Home of pre-loved cars,” is located at 3930 Westholme Drive, Houston, TX, 77063.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never seen peace. It\u2019s always a war,\u201d Matar said.<\/p>\n

He said even as a child, danger was close to home. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey bombed the bridge next to our house. They bombed two 18-wheelers next to our house, too,\u201d Matar said.<\/p>\n

As strikes intensified during his recent visit, Matar said he saw smoke in the distance while out to lunch. He described a tense drive to the airport, passing neighborhoods that had already been hit.<\/p>\n

\"MatarMatar told KBTX that the drive to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport was tense.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

\u201cRisk is everywhere. You never know. The rocket can go this way or this way,\u201d Matar said. \u201cThat night, there was no bombing, and there was no messages showing that they\u2019re going to bomb. So we went, we crossed our fingers, we went like always.\u201d<\/p>\n

After leaving Beirut, Matar flew to Turkey and then connected to Houston\u2019s Bush Intercontinental Airport. He said arriving in the U.S. brought immediate relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you land in the United States, it\u2019s like you\u2019re safe. You\u2019re way far from everything,\u201d Matar said. \u201cHere is my country too. I love it also, and my life is here. My everything is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conflict is also affecting the Texas A&M community. The university said it has halted operations at its branch campus in Qatar because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"TexasTexas A&M told KBTX that it has halted operations at its branch campus in Qatar amid the conflict in the Middle East.(kbtx)<\/p>\n

In a statement, the university said, \u201cThe majority of employees and international students already have left the country, and those who have remained have done so by choice. Texas A&M already has offered assistance to leave the country and is allowing employees to work from remote locations. Additionally, the campus remains closed to employees and students from Texas A&M University at Qatar, and operations will continue to be offered virtually for the remainder of the semester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matar said his family remains in Lebanon as the war continues, but he hopes people will remember the country he loves beyond the conflict. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not safe now, but it\u2019s going to be safe again,\u201d Matar said. \u201cFor someone who\u2019s never been to Lebanon, I say that Lebanon is really beautiful.\u201d <\/p>\n

Matar said he is grateful to have made it out alive and to be back in the United States, where he now calls home.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – More than four weeks into the war with Iran, more Americans are speaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[254,2055,2060,2058,2057,2059,2061,27,29,28,2056],"class_list":{"0":"post-228606","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breaking-news-video","10":"tag-live-speeches","11":"tag-live-updates","12":"tag-live-video","13":"tag-press-conference","14":"tag-real-time-coverage","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-texas-headlines","17":"tag-texas-news","18":"tag-video-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}