Kamil Hallak was a week away from receiving his university degree in business and economics when the bombs started to rain down on Beirut.

Hallak, 23, who has a Czech mother and Lebanese father, grew up here but studied at the American University of Beirut. Soon after the fighting broke out July 12, classes stopped and the school closed.

"When you're sleeping and you wake up and hear bombs falling, and the house shakes ... yes, I was scared," Hallak recalled.

Because he couldn't receive his degree, Hallak's graduate studies in Paris this fall are in doubt, just one example of how the battle raging between Israel and the militant Islamic organization Hezbollah is affecting those with ties to the Czech Republic.

Since hostilities began following the abduction of two Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border, the Czech government has evacuated close to 130 Czechs, among them Hallak, his mother and two sisters, from Beirut. Most were there on vacation. Prague tour operators are canceling trips to the region, and companies that do business in Lebanon are reporting significant losses.

The government has also pledged troop support for a future international peacekeeping mission in the region and has earmarked 5 million Kč ($221,239) for humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the Prague-based charity People in Need has dispatched an aid worker to Beirut to monitor the situation.

About 300 local Lebanese turned out on Old Town Square July 24 to protest the Israeli bombings, many holding signs that read "Israel ... stop the war," and "Peace does not equal killing children."

"It's all very dangerous, very awful, very disgusting," said Ali, 19, who withheld his last name.

Official reports say more than 300 Lebanese and 41 Israelis have died in the fighting. While Israeli casualties have included many soldiers, the vast majority of Lebanese who have died have reportedly been civilians.

Fighting began after Hezbollah, a group holed up primarily in south Beirut and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, crossed over into Israel and kidnapped the Israelis.

Israel responded decisively with relentless bombing of Hezbollah positions throughout Beirut and the south with the stated goal of wiping out the militant group's weapons caches. Israel has also massed troops along its northern border with Lebanon, suggesting that a full-scale ground offensive may soon be in the cards.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in the region since July 24, is calling for an international force to be deployed in a buffer zone between Hezbollah positions in the south and the Israeli border. That plan has the backing, in theory at least, of European leaders, including outgoing Czech Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek, who said recently up to 100 Czech soldiers could be committed.

Both chambers of Parliament, however, would have to sign off on any troop deployment.

The evacuation of Czech citizens was mostly completed early in the fighting, with groups either ferried to nearby Cyprus or shuttled overland to Syria, before meeting planes that returned them to Prague, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

About 30 Czechs with families in Beirut remained there at press time, all voluntarily, according to the Czech chargé d'affaires in Beirut, Sylva Pavlasová.

"Communication is becoming more difficult due to the bombing," she said from Beirut. "We are trying to maintain communication with those who decided to stay."

Czech dairy exporter Madeta's top market for the past 40 years has been Lebanon, exporting milk, cheese and butter worth about $1 million a month, according to Miroslava Hubáčková, head of exports. Since the conflict began, the company has halted exports to Lebanon.

"At the moment we have no signals from our business partners that the situation will calm down any time soon," she said.

Palmyra Tour, a Prague-based travel agency specializing in tours to the region, has canceled a trip to Lebanon scheduled for November, co-owner Helena El Hassanová said. Sixty Czechs were supposed to go.

Forty tourists from Lebanon — including a youth basketball team of players 15 and under — who were visiting Prague when the fighting broke out have turned to the Lebanese Embassy here for assistance.

Chargé d'Affaires Hadi Jaber said the embassy arranged for visa extensions so some could wait out the fighting, and arranged for others to fly to different airports in the region.

For the 500 or so Lebanese who call Prague home, the past few weeks have been difficult. Some are studying here; many more have settled here after marrying locals.

Most are in constant contact with family back in Lebanon.

"My family is in Beirut," said Ahmad Masri, 43, president of the Lebanese Club here. "They are afraid of the bombing. They can't go out. They can't find bread. It is a difficult situation."