Israel says the buffer zone is necessary to keep the threat of Hezbollah rockets off its border, and its Defense Minister Israel Katz has warned that thousands of families displaced from the south or those that remain will not be able to return to their homes unless the safety of residents of northern Israel is guaranteed.
According to the Lebanese government, more than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 4,000 injured across Lebanon since the current war began.
“It is devastating,” said El Khoury, who is now living in a single room in a temporary shelter in Sehayleh, in the Ksarwan district, northeast of Beirut, with her three children, ages 8, 6 and 4. She says she has struggled to access enough food and basic supplies.
“There’s no place to go back.”
critical situations
Humanitarian workers on the ground have described dire conditions for hundreds of thousands of people displaced across the country, many of whom are sleeping on city streets and in cars in and around the country’s capital Beirut, as aid groups demand more funding to prepare for the possibility of “long-term displacement”.
“Even if there is some kind of ceasefire, we already know that there are some areas in the south that have been captured,” Dr. Tania Baban, Lebanon country director for the Chicago-based nonprofit MedGlobal, told NBC News in a phone interview on Friday.
“So, now you have to worry about people who will not be able to – I hope not – but possibly ever be able to go back to their land,” she said.
Abbas Bazoun, 46, said he, his wife and their four children have been living out of their van for several weeks after being displaced from their home in Deir Ams, southern Lebanon.
He said he was barred from bringing his family dog to shelters and after refusing to give up his pet, he had no choice but to sleep in his vehicle.
Bazoun said, “My dog is very dear to me, and I can’t give him away.” He said his family still did not know whether their home would remain intact, but their small shop selling fruits and vegetables was destroyed in the Israeli attack.
He said his wife was traumatized from being under Israeli fire and was suffering a “nervous breakdown.” “We faced a lot of bombing before we could leave,” he said.
communal tension is increasing
Meanwhile, humanitarian groups have also warned of rising sectarian tensions, with displaced people being driven away from communities where they have taken refuge over fears they could potentially be members of Hezbollah.
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Several groups, including the United Nations and MedGlobal, previously told NBC News that they had heard of local municipalities trying to discourage residents from renting homes to displaced people coming from the south because they feared they could be targeted if suspected Hezbollah members were among them.
The New York Times reported separately this week that Israeli forces have told leaders of Christian and Druze communities in southern Lebanon they can stay in evacuation zones, but have pressured them to expel any Lebanese from neighboring Shia Muslim communities seeking refuge in their communities.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on the allegations.
“I think there is a lot of concern. There is a lot of concern,” Imran Riza, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, said in a phone interview on Friday.
“Compared to 2024, the sense of insecurity and tension is much higher among both the host population and the displaced population,” he said.
Danny Makhlouf, a social worker in Achrafieh, a Christian neighborhood of Beirut, said people there did not want to set up shelters in the area after previous “issues” during previous rounds of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
He said that in some cases, displaced people “planted Hezbollah flags in schools, causing tension among residents.”
“Remember, we are from different political parties and for us, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into this war and previous wars,” he said.
Israel occupied southern Lebanon until 2000 and has launched frequent attacks on the region in recent decades, attacking Hezbollah, which was first founded in the 1980s when Israel occupied southern Lebanon following attacks between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israeli forces. Hezbollah has long supported Israel’s destruction.
The Lebanese government vowed to disarm the militant group by 2024 as part of a UN-brokered effort to end the previous conflict, but has made little progress in doing so since then.
Bechara Gholam, mayor of Beirut’s Rameel neighborhood in the Achrafieh area, said there is no shelter for displaced people there.
Gholam said that if displaced people want to rent apartments in the area, their names are sent to the government for confirmation that they are not involved in “any activity related to Hezbollah.” Gholam said, if they get approval then we have no problem.
“The safety of our neighborhoods is a priority for us,” the mayor said.
Baban said she was becoming concerned about “local tensions that are brewing” and reports of Israel trying to “inflame that type of sectarian tension.”
Meanwhile, they were concerned about what would happen to displaced families if Israel pressed for a long-term occupation of southern Lebanon.
“To be honest, we’re all hoping for a miracle,” he said.
