This June 2025 photo shows some of the destruction in Beirut’s southern suburb caused by the Israel-Hezbollah war.
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RESPONDING TO HUMAN NEEDS
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room with a double bed, a television, a refrigerator and a few chairs are all that serve as shelter for a southern Lebanese family living on the outskirts of Beirut. Elie Jamal, 34, his pregnant wife and his mother have adapted to their living situation in Nabaa, where rents are more affordable than in Beirut, and Hezbollah banners hang above the streets. “We come from a calm village,” says Mr. Jamal, an Orthodox Christian. “Here, at night, we cannot sleep because there is so much noise. Residents frequently shoot in the air whenever someone dies or gets married.” On a mid-October morning, his mother takes coffee to Manal Chahine, their neighbor, who — with her husband, three children and six relatives — also found refuge from the Israel-Hezbollah war. The Jamals and Chahines were living in their Lebanese villages of Qlayaa and Ebel el-Saqi respectively. On 8 October 2023, Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and Shiite militia, launched air attacks on Israel in support of Hamas, after Israel began bombing Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October. When Israeli military first responded with a bombardment campaign and drone attacks limited to the south of Lebanon and the Bekaa region, the two families were able to remain in their villages. However, the drastic escalation of the war in September 2024 led the Jamals, the Chahines and hundreds of thousands of other families to flee.