Stories of the displaced in Lebanon
As the large-scale Israeli bombardment continues in Lebanon, nearly 1 million people have been forced from their homes in a desperate search for safety.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is providing support to displaced people in shelters, including schools, in Saida (south of Lebanon), Akkar, Tripoli, (North Lebanon) mount Lebanon as well as in and around Beirut. Our teams are delivering water, psychological first aid, and medical consultations, while also donating essential items such as mattresses, blankets, drinking water, and hygiene kits to displaced people, in some locations, we are providing hot meals.
Below are testimonies from three displaced people, including MSF’s field communications manager in Beirut.
“I hope we can return to our houses; if there are houses to go back to”
Testimony collected on 25 September in a school in Barja, Mount Lebanon.
Alia* sits on the pavement of the school’s humble garden in Barja, a small town located in Mount Lebanon, her face perplexed, as if she doesn’t know what to do. Her mother-in-law, who has just undergone eye surgery, is trying to avoid the harsh sun rays.
The school Alia* is sheltering in is overflowing with displaced people like herself. Sounds of children playing fill the air, yet it cannot mask the blasts of airstrikes falling on the surrounding hills and shaking the building.
“We’re from the southern border town of Khiam. We were forced to leave our home around a year ago when clashes started. And now, we were forced to leave yet again from the house we were sheltering in. We had barely started adapting, registered our kids in a nearby school, and all of it went away.” says Alia*.
Before being forced out of her house in October 2023, Alia* was working as a nurse. Since then, she has been unable to work, and the family has lost their source of income.
In the last quarter of 2023, she spent two months trying to find a safe home for herself, her husband, and her two boys. They would move almost every ten days from one town to another, desperately trying to find a more permanent place to stay. Eventually, a former colleague found her a house in the southern town of Kfartebnit, located 20 kilometres away from her hometown.
On Monday, September 23, 2024, a large-scale Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon started, soon spanning beyond to different other densely populated areas of the country. Alia* had only the time to pack up a few things and the family went on the move.
“We left the house at 1:30 am under heavy bombing from all around us. The traffic in the south was insane. We went to two towns first, but their schools were full to the brim. We ended up sleeping that night in our car. The next morning, we came to this school and thankfully we found a classroom to house us. However, we have nothing to sleep on. Fortunately, I managed to bring two blankets with me.”
The scale of displacement in Lebanon is unprecedented, which surpasses the country’s capacity to house the displaced. The main pressing needs people express are mattresses, pillows, blankets, and hygiene products, on top of medical care.
“This displacement is by far tougher than the first one. My children tell me they would rather die under bombing than to live like this. The school was shaking all night. We consider ourselves safe here for now, but what if Israel decides to target schools?”
When Alia* last visited her house in Khiam three months ago, it was heavily damaged, with all the windows shattered but at least it was still standing. She is afraid that with the latest waves of Israeli strikes, her house might have been reduced to rubbles.
“I hope one day we can return to our houses – our original houses – if there are houses to go back to.”
“That night was like a horror movie”
Testimony collected on 30 September in Ramleh El-Bayda, Beirut.
“My name is Hassan*, and I come from Nabatieh governorate, in southern Lebanon. I used to live with my wife and three children in the southern suburb of Beirut.
Four days ago, we decided to leave our home with my family because we were worried about our safety. That night felt like a horror movie; warplanes, airstrikes—you name it. While we were in the car, we could feel the ground shaking.
We spent the first two days in a house in another neighborhood of Beirut, but then the owner asked us to vacate the apartment.
Now, we are here in Ramleh El-Bayda in Beirut. We are 20 members of my family,stranded on the beach. All the shelters and schools are full. Where should we go? We have no place to stay. It seems that nowhere is safe now.
The situation is far worse than anyone can imagine. We have so many needs. When we left, we only took a couple of clothes and our documentation. We couldn’t even bring a mattress or a pillow. Last night, we slept on chairs. No one is helping us.
All I care about is the kids. The youngest is a year and a half old. How can I look out for my family?”
*Name was changed based on request to protect privacy.
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