Despite the ever-present fear and the steep decline in business activity, business owners in Beirut's southern suburbs are doing what they can to keep their business afloat. The vast majority of the area's estimated 600,000-800,000 residents have fled, seeking refuge elsewhere, after Israel intensified its campaign against the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah movement on September 23. In the area, an Israeli strike turned the café Abdel Rahman Zahr El-Din had opened five years ago into a pile of rubble. "In 2006 [war], it was like this and we stayed put. What's the difference between now and 2006?.. we plan to stay," says a suburbs resident. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES