MSF responds to attacks on Kfar Tebnit, South of Lebanon
On 2 February, Israeli strikes hit several towns in southern Lebanon, including Kfar Tebnit and Ain Qana, causing widespread destruction in residential areas and displacing at least 37 families. While some attacks were preceded by so-called evacuation orders, this has not always been the case — leaving communities across the south living in constant uncertainty and fear.
“In just a few minutes, 37 families in Kfar Tebnit, 37 mothers and fathers, were once again forced to pack what they could of their lives into bags and flee, leaving behind their memories, their homes and their sense of safety and stability,” said Mahmoud Khalifa, MSF’s Project Coordinator in Nabatieh.
For people in Kfar Tebnit, the impact is deeply personal and painfully familiar. “What happened was not a passing incident, but a social and humanitarian shock that struck families already exhausted by displacement, children stripped of their sense of safety, and a local community living under the constant weight of threat. No one can truly understand the meaning of this repeated destruction except those who have lived through it — or suddenly found it before their eyes, affecting people they know by name and share daily struggles with.” said Rima Ahmad Chamoun, director of the Ministry of Social Affairs –affiliated centre in Kfar Tebnit where MSF’s mobile clinics often visit to provide healthcare services.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, MSF teams mobilized to respond to urgent needs, distributing 40 food parcels alongside 100 blankets, 100 mattresses, and 100 pillows to affected families. At the same time, MSF’s medical and mental health mobile teams across the governorate continue to provide primary healthcare, psychological support, and health promotion activities to communities coping with repeated trauma and displacement.
“Our teams are responding, but how do communities rebuild their lives under continued attack?” Khalifa added.
Since the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have persisted, driving repeated waves of displacement and damaging civilian infrastructure, including homes and essential services. Only last week, MSF similarly responded following Israeli airstrikes on five southern towns in the districts of Nabatieh and Saida. Our teams supported displaced families through emergency distributions and mental health interventions in Kharayeb and Qanarit.
This painful reality is shared by many across the south. In January, Alice Reda, a finance and human resources assistant working in MSF’s Nabatieh project, was visiting her parents in Kfar Hatta when so-called evacuation orders were suddenly issued for her town, triggering a familiar moment of panic experienced by many. “How is this still happening, and how are we expected to live with it?” she said. “How has the destruction of homes, the displacement of families, and living in constant fear become our new ‘normal’?”
In the Kfar Tebnit attack earlier this week, families who had just settled after previous displacement now find themselves once again without safe shelter, access to basic services, or a sense of stability. Each new incident compounds existing humanitarian needs and places growing strain on communities’ mental health and resilience. MSF teams remain present on the ground — responding to urgent humanitarian needs while raising the alarm about the human cost of repeated attacks on civilian areas.