“We have to start from scratch.” Displaced people in southern Lebanon whose lives were destroyed by the Israeli war

Enas Tahini was forced to leave her home for a school due to the Israeli war on southern Lebanon (French)

About 4 months ago, Enas Tahini fled with her family from her border town in southern Lebanon as Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging bombings. She did not think that the displacement would last long and that her home would be damaged as a result of the escalation.

The mother of three children regrets the fate of her home and the difficult conditions of displacement after she began residing in a school that was hastily converted into a shelter center in the coastal city of Tyre, lacking the most basic necessities of life.

Tahini (37 years old) told Agence France-Presse that the Israelis bombed my brother’s house. This led to it being completely burned, while my apartment on the lower floor was damaged.

Tahini is among more than 86,000 people who have been displaced, according to the United Nations, from their homes since the start of the cross-border escalation due to the war in the Gaza Strip that broke out on October 7.

The Lebanese border towns have been subjected to Israeli bombing for some time in response to Hezbollah launching missiles from southern Lebanon that it says are in support of the Palestinian resistance.

The Tahini family, which was displaced from the border town of Aita al-Shaab, relies on the salary of her soldier husband, which currently amounts to $150, which was not enough for the family even before the displacement.

She explained as her eyes filled with tears: “If I were able to rent a house in Tyre, I would do so, but we cannot do that and we do not know what will happen to us.”

Aid for Lebanese displaced from their villages as a result of the Israeli (French) war

Aaita al-Shaab is one of the border towns most affected by the Israeli bombing, which led to the destruction of a large number of homes.

The National News Agency publishes almost daily reports of strikes that severely damage homes and destroy others. Hezbollah regularly announces the killing of its members in exchanges of fire with Israel. The bombing also affects civilians.

Tahini reports that her neighbors’ property was damaged as a result of the Israeli bombing, and she says angrily: “All these people have to start again from scratch.”

"Our lives have been turned around"

The escalation caused the death of 216 people in Lebanon, including 161 Hezbollah fighters and 26 civilians, including 3 journalists, according to a count by Agence France-Presse, while 15 people were killed on the Israeli side, including 6 civilians, according to the Israeli army.

Hezbollah announces targeting Israeli military sites and points, while the Israeli army responds with air and artillery bombardment, which it says targets the party's "infrastructure" and the movements of fighters near the border.

In a classroom that has become his home in the same shelter center in Tyre, Hafez Mustafa (46 years old) narrates that his ten children stopped learning in schools and universities as a result of displacement.

The man, who used to make a living from two cow farms before his displacement from his hometown of Beit Lev, said, “My two daughters were forced to stop going to university because of my inability to save $400 before the exams.”

According to him, the Israeli bombing targeted a farm he owned with his partner, which led to the killing of a number of cows and the escape of others.

He had to sell 17 cows that were on a second farm due to his inability to secure a place to house them and in order to provide for his family.

He says with a sigh, "We were teaching children, we had money, and our affairs were good... The war turned our lives upside down."

He continues: "Even if I return to my town, I will start my life from scratch," adding: "We are tired of the war. It has gone on for a long time and we can no longer bear it."

The Tire region houses the largest number of displaced people, with more than 27,000 people fleeing there, according to the United Nations. Nearly a thousand of them reside in shelters.

The head of the Disaster Management Unit of the Union of Tire Municipalities, Mortada Muhanna, says: “There are many requirements that the displaced need and we are not able to provide them,” adding: “We did not expect the period of displacement to be long... and the situation is becoming more complex.”

The displaced people, hailing from 87 villages and towns, most of them border, need assistance at all levels, according to Muhanna, who was speaking from the disaster management room surrounded by volunteers and government employees working non-stop, with screens and lists with names and phone numbers near them.

A child fled from her village near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon (French)

In light of the unprecedented economic collapse and the deterioration of the value of the local currency since 2019 in Lebanon, the authorities’ ability to provide basic services has diminished. According to Muhanna, the displaced people in the Tire region received food rations only once in about 4 months, amid a shortage of the basic needs of mattresses, covers, and pillows.

He continues: "These families have lost their property and jobs and are not able to buy what they need."

Like Mustafa, many confirm that they found themselves displaced overnight after they were well off and able to secure all their needs.

Abbas Fakih (40 years old) chose to flee with his wife and four children from the village of Rab Talatin to the town of Srifa, located 15 kilometers from the border, which remained safe from Israeli bombing.

He considers himself lucky to be living with his large family in a house without paying rent, and to be able to move his livestock to a nearby plot of land.

But this did not solve him without losing some of his source of livelihood.

“I had 250 goats, and I have sold about 60 of them so far in order to provide food for the family and fodder for the rest of the livestock,” he told Agence France-Presse while his children played with their cousins ​​near him.

He explains that many of the newly born kittens died due to the cold and the unpreparedness of the plot of land to which he transferred them. He regrets his inability this year to plant wheat and lentils.

Fakih hopes that the bombing will stop and he can return to his village. He says: "We follow the news with bated breath, hoping to hear news of a truce."

Source: French