With much of Beirut a combat zone last week, there was scarcely a place in the city that did not seem to be smack in the center of the action. "People broke into tears out of sheer nervous exhaustion," reported Middle East Bureau Chief William Stewart after one particularly harrowing day of bombardment. So widespread was the destruction in mostly Muslim West Beirut, where TIME'S offices are situated, that Beirut Correspondent Roberto Suro was dispatched across the Green Line, which divides the city, so that he could begin operating from the predominantly Christian east side. "In effect we set up a satellite bureau," he says. "If a sudden and devastating attack on West Beirut began, we feared correspondents there might be pinned down or cut off, in which case I would try to cover the battle." As the Israeli bombing and shelling increased and electricity and water supplies faltered, TIME'S Abu Said Abu Rish moved the bureau's office to the Commodore Hotel, whose staff of been making extraordinary efforts to meet the needs of hundreds of encamped journalists.

Though the Israeli bombardment abated as the week went on, moving around the city or out into the hills to cover the fighting remained extremely hazardous. But it was possible. Cairo Bureau Chief Robert C. Wurmstedt, sent into Beirut two weeks ago, found that "you can still travel by taxi, but charges jump from $22 to as much as $200 for a nine-mile ride, depending on how dangerous an area you want to go to." Of course, the whereabouts of danger was unpredictable. On a quiet street, a small van blew up less than 50 yards ahead of Suro, sprinkling his car with glass and metal shards. What happened, he reports, was that "a Palestinian fighter attempting to remove a wounded comrade from the the van accidentally set off a grenade he was carrying."

One novel experience for the bureau was reporting on a new occupying force--the Israelis, who had troops spotted all over the area. "When I was transferred here nearly seven months ago," says Suro, "I hardly expected to cover the activities of the Israeli army." Even more startling, Stewart found the Israelis covering his activities. On his way to suburban Baabda, Stewart came upon an Israeli tank with an Israeli TV camera crew in tow. "They asked to interview me, and I agreed," says Stewart. "So I gave my impression of the siege for Israeli TV only hours after the bombardment."

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