CrossFireArabia
A California sculptor by the name of Laura Harling sent Ussama Makdisi an image of her latest work. he says It is haunting.
Makdisi is a Professor of History and is a co-host of the @MakdisiStreet podcast.
CrossFireArabia
“Jabalia camp will not fall.” This is just one phrase the steadfast Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp wrote on the walls of the houses destroyed by the Israeli war machine over a year of genocide. They insist on staying on their refusal to be displaced under the guns of a third military operation that is today continued relentlessly.
Artillery shells are raining down on the camp from all sides. Jabalia residents are rushing with whatever luggage they can carry, or rather the remnants of their belongings which they lost over the course of a year of genocide, searching for a safe place and shelter that is nowhere to be found.
Gunpowder
Amidst the pain, the camp’s steadfast residents breathe air saturated with gunpowder from rockets and shells but they remain, refusing to submit to forced evacuation orders and attempt to displace them. They say the Israeli occupation will not drive them off the land.
Yousef Abu Qamar insists on staying in the northern Gaza Strip, refusing to leave the camp. He is currently residing in a tent he set up in one of the shelters and says he will not leave Jabalia even if it costs him his life, despite losing his home and dozens of relatives during this ongoing genocidal war on the Strip.
Abu Qamar is staying inside a displacement tent with his wife and children in one of the UNRWA schools, along with hundreds of residents of Jabalia camp who refuse to leave, despite the dangers to their lives and Israeli siege.
He adds the occupation is doing its military best to force them to move to the southern Gaza Strip after a year of steadfastness in the north, “despite the great destruction that befell the camp and our loss of our homes and livelihoods, and the famine we lived under for months and that is being repeated today.”
No safe areas
Abu Qamar says the Israeli occupation army’s call for displacement as an attempt to delude the camp residents into believing there are safe areas in the southern Gaza Strip but the reality is the opposite, as they bombed the tents of the displaced in Mawasi Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah, and invaded Rafah, which they claimed was a “safe humanitarian area”.
“If we must die, let us die in the camp that has always embraced us in which we have lived, and which has lived in us. Where do we go amidst the devastation that is everywhere? What we rejected at the beginning of the war, we will not accept now,” he added.
On 6 October, 2024, the Israeli army announced the start of a ground military operation in Jabalia, under the pretext of preventing the Palestinian resistance from regaining its strength in the area, hours after the start of a fierce attack on the eastern and western areas of the northern Gaza Strip, including Jabalia and the most violent since last May.
This is the third ground operation carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the Jabalia camp since 7 October, 2023, where hundreds were killed and injured in aerial and artillery bombardment and gunfire inside the camp, in addition to the destruction and burning of hundreds of homes.
Generals’ Pan
With the launch of the new military operation the occupation army began displacing Palestinians from three towns in north Gaza in a move that appears to be an undeclared implementation of what the media has called the “Generals’ Plan,” to empty the northern Gaza Strip and impose a strict siege on it in preparation for settlement with Israeli colonialists.
The “Generals’ Plan” was unveiled in early September, and calls for displacing all Palestinians from the northern Gaza in a week before imposing a siege on the area and giving Palestinian fighters there the choice of death or surrender.
The Israeli government has not announced its adoption of the plan, but the KAN official Broadcasting Channel reported in September that the Ministerial Cabinet for Political and Security Affairs is discussing this plan.
Ghazi Al-Kafarna shares the insistence of his other camp residents to remain in his home despite the destruction of large parts of it. He believes leaving the camp will not provide him with safety or assistance, saying it will not solve the crisis but increase their suffering.
He says that leaving the northern Gaza Strip to the south means death, and not necessarily by missiles. Since the beginning of the war, we have witnessed various forms of death from diseases, epidemics and water pollution, stressing he does not trust the “unsafe” displacement paths determined by the occupation army and the fact the south is not prepared to receive new numbers of displaced people.
Al-Kafarna adds: “It is true we are suffering from near-famine due to the severe shortage of food and lack of vegetables, even if their prices are astronomical, but going to the south means living in tents we do not know for how long plus the south is not prepared to receive new displaced people.”
‘We are staying’
He believes the occupation army relies on the principle of putting military pressure on the Jabalia residents to force them to flee under intense firepower. He pointed out however, this policy has proven its failure, and proof of that is the insistence of people of staying even if they are wrecked.
Thousands of residents of northern Gaza have clung to their homes and brushed aside displaced to the south since 14 October, 2023, when the occupation army issued the first forced evacuation order to them.
Of the 1.2 million people who used to live in the Gaza and North Governorates, there are currently about 700,000 people who have refused to be displaced to the southern Gaza Strip, according to official Palestinian data.
Jabalia Camp has always represented the palm facing the Israeli needle since the years of the first Intifada in 1978. It was the spark that ignited all of the Palestinian territories and erupted to mobilize against occupation.
Days of Rage
In the year 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifada Jabalia Camp witnessed fierce battles, including the “Days of Rage” battle in 2004, in which the enemy tried to storm the camp, but withdrew in defeat after a 17-day battle. This is the battle in which Sheikh Nizar led the fighters to the front lines through his historic statement: “They [Israeli troops] will not enter our camp, meaning they will not enter our camp.”
Today, a year after the Al-Aqsa Flood and attempts to break the resistance in Jabalia, the camp, covering one-and-a-half square kilometers, returns like a phoenix from the ashes to resist a third Israeli military encroachment to remove its residents.
In its first ground attack on the camp on 27 October, 2023, the occupation forces launched thousands of raids and opened the gates of hell with “preliminary fire” on the stubborn camp, most of whose residents refused to leave.
On 12 May, 2024, the occupation army launched a violent attack on Jabalia from several axes, and sent three armored battalions to carry out the mission it had always failed at, thinking that after all these months of crushing and starvation, the camp would kneel and raise the white flag.
Powerful, steadfast
But what happened was that stubborn Jabalia proved once again it was the most powerful and steadfast front in this battle, to the point that the squadrons of helicopters that came to evacuate the dead and wounded soldiers hovered profusely over the skies of the camp throughout those days.
This legendary steadfastness was not built on a sea of sand. Since its inception in 1948 by refugees who sought refuge there after the Nakba, it has been a focal area for the fedayeen who joined the training camps of the “Palestinian Liberation Army” in the 1960s, as hundreds of young men from Jabalia camp rushed to join and participated in fedayeen operations inside the armistice line and the battles of the June 1967 war, as confirmed by Saeed Ziyad, researcher in Palestinian affairs.
The Arab defeat and the occupation of all of Palestine and a large part of the Arab lands did not deter those fedayeen from resisting and joining the new resistance groups that kept the enemy awake and inflicted heavy losses on it. The peak of these operations was between 1968 and 1972, when the then Israeli Minister of the Occupation Army, Ariel Sharon, carried out large-scale targeting on the fedayeen, and demolished a large number of homes in the camp to attempt to crush the armed resistance against the occupation where the enemy tried to raze the camp and displace its people through a large-scale operation that lasted for four years, and ended in abject failure.
Today, the stubborn camp is reformulating its resistance identity well-known in past decades, so that its heirs today continue to write “Long live the camp…long live the invincible spirit of Jabalia.”
This article was translated/edited from the Palestine Information Center.
CrossFireArabia
Bloggers denounced the closure of the accounts of Palestinian activists on the X (formerly twitter) social platform. They say this latest decision comes within a systematic campaign to silence the free voices who are defending the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli occupation.
They pointed out that the accounts closed by the X platform, have played a prominent role in highlighting the suffering of the Palestinian people and transmitting the crimes of the Zionist occupation in Gaza to the world through social media platforms.
Bloggers confirmed that these accounts have come to represent a strong media front to face the Zionist narrative and convey the truth to the Arab and international public and make them aware of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, especially in the ongoing war on Gaza.
A Window on The World
Activist Adham Abu Salmiya said “for me, social media represents an important window onto the world, but it does not form the essence of human existence. There is no value to man if virtual space takes priority over the real world, where attitudes are made and achievements are realized.”
Abu Salmiya added to Quds Press, whose number of followers reached one million people before he was suspended said that “suspending my account on the X platform may hinder my media message for some time, but it will not weaken my commitment to conveying the truth and serving our central cause, Palestine.
My presence will remain effective in the field, and my continuous efforts towards awareness and human struggle for the benefit of our Arab nation are greater than any electronic platform. Success is not measured by the number of followers, but by the extent of the impact we make on our reality and the future of our generations,” he added.
Palestinian writer and analyst Ibrahim al-Madhoun said: “In an unfortunate development reflecting the extent of the influence of the Zionists on social media platforms, the X management closed my account, which exceeds 100,000 followers, despite the fact I did not violate any of the network’s standards, I did not publish photos or videos, but expressed my political views, reflecting my affiliation the just cause of the Palestinian people.”
‘Silence The Voices’
This step is “an extension of the continuous attempts to silence the voices that defend the rights of the Palestinians and seek to highlight the crimes of the occupation.
The closing of my X account is a serious indicator that this platform is losing its role as space open to all, as its management seems clearly biased towards the Israeli side in its handling of Palestinian content.
If X continues its policy of closing Palestinian accounts, it means it has abandoned its neutrality and have become a political tool serving the Zionist agenda thereby losing its credibility as a global platform that allows free expression.
I will officially message the X administration to reactivate my account, with the confirmation that I have not violated any of the network’s standards,” stressing “these practices will not discourage me from continuing my message, but will increase my insistence on communicating my voice and my cause to the world.
In light of these arbitrary measures, I decided to focus more on my alternative platform on Telegram, which has more than 6,000 subscribers, where I will continue to publish my opinions and positions with all freedom and transparency. In addition, I will continue to strengthen my presence on the other platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Tik Tok, despite the challenges facing me there as well.
The war on social media is a difficult and cruel battle, but we will not allow one platform or any other party to be a way to silence the voice of the Palestinian right,” he concluded.
The closure of these accounts generated much comment who showed solidarity with activists Abu Salmiyah, demanding that his account be restored.
In his support Palestinian activist Khalid Safi wrote on X that “Adham Abu Salmiya is one of the most powerful and influential accounts in the Arab region”.
Support came from Kuwaiti poet Ahmed Al-Kandari and Mauritanian thinker Muhammad Al-Shanqaiti who said “Professor Adham Abu Salmiya speaks truthfully in time of falsehood, and is a brave and brave man who carries the people of Gaza and Palestine.”
Bias
As for the Palestinian historian Khaled Al-Ashqar, he pointed out “the blockade is renewed on Palestinian content as the second year of the Al Aqsa Flood enters”, confirming that “these Western platforms are still biased towards the occupation narrative…”
Kuwaiti activist Khaled Al-Otaibi said that the account of my brother Adham Abu Salmiya on X was suspended as part of a systematic campaign to suppress the free Palestinian voice and the Arab narrative that cracks the truth and refutes the false Zionist narrative.
CrossFireArabia
The entire Arab world will likely face the threats of environmental disasters in the near years to come and future generations because of the Israeli wanton destruction of the Gaza Strip. Here is why.
CrossFireArabia
By Nour Dawood
Since October 2023, when Israel launched its genocidal war in Gaza, over 16,800 children have been killed. Behind each staggering statistic lies a name, a face, a story. These children had dreams, hopes, families who loved them, and futures that will never unfold. Israel may claim military objectives, but the reality on the ground reveals children at the heart of its devastation.
Here, we honor the stories of 20 children whose lives were brutally cut short. Their stories have been pieced together through interviews with their families, social media posts, and news reports. These are not just numbers. They are names, stories, and tragedies that must not be forgotten.
Siblings Aya and Aboud Abu Oun were killed on October 17. Their mother, Asmaa Mughari, shared their memory with heartbreaking tributes on social media. Aboud, her youngest, had picked out a jacket he was excited to wear but never got the chance. His love for drawing was so strong that the family kept searching the rubble of their home, hoping to find any of his sketches. “I keep asking them if they found anything,” Asmaa shared.
In another post, Asmaa celebrated Aya’s first graduation certificate. “It was your first achievement in school, and I’m so proud of you—both in life and in death,” she wrote, expressing the unbearable pride and loss every parent hopes never to experience.
On January 29, six-year-old Hind Rajab was killed when an Israeli tank fired at her family’s car in Tal Al-Hawa. According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), forensic evidence confirmed that the shots came from close range. Hind was trapped among the bodies of her family members for hours, crying for help over the phone in her final moments.
Her mother, Wissam Hamadah, shared the agony of not being able to save her. “My sweetheart, I couldn’t reach you. Forgive me,” she tearfully recounted. Hind’s body was recovered days later, along with two paramedics who had been killed while trying to rescue her.
Juman was a bright, ambitious 13-year-old who excelled in school and Islamic studies, even memorizing the Quran. She had dreams, especially of peace, hoping for a day when her family would be reunited without the fear of war. On her birthday, December 1, she expressed this wish, but just six days later, an Israeli missile struck her home, killing her, her two sisters, Yaman and Bisan, and wiping out most of her family.
Her aunt shared a deeply emotional tribute: “The missile erased them from our civil registry, but not from our hearts. Juman’s smile, her kind eyes, remain untouched, even by war.”
Mohammed and Zeina Hijazi were displaced from their home in northern Gaza to Deir Al-Balah, seeking refuge from relentless bombings. But even in displacement, they found no safety. On December 23, Israeli airstrikes killed both children. Their father remembered Mohammed’s love for simple joys—cake on his birthday, mulukhiyah, and shawarma. “He was so excited to start kindergarten, but instead, he joined the kindergarten of paradise.”
Zeina, only two years old, adored her older brother. She would often tease him by pulling his hair, but they were inseparable. “When Zeina took her first steps, Mohammed was the one who excitedly shared the news with our family,” their father recalled. “Now, they walk together in paradise.”
Laya was a lively three-year-old with a love for staying up late, dancing, and playing in the water. On January 6, she was killed in Gaza City by an Israeli airstrike. Her mother, Asma Naim, shared her grief through poignant words: “You loved everything about life—parties, swimming, strawberries. I can’t grasp that you’re gone.”
The memory of Laya’s blue dress, her messy hair, and her infectious joy lives on in her mother’s heart. “You loved your father so much, and you looked just like him,” Asma shared, her pain reflected in every word.
Known for his big heart and his habit of initiating family group hugs, Yousef was a joyful presence in his home. His father remembers how Yousef would always ask about his work hours and excitedly greet him when he came home. “Every time I went to work, he’d run to me, hug me, and kiss me. He was always the first one there,” his father shared.
On October 15, an Israeli airstrike hit their family home, taking Yousef’s young life. His father’s pain is immeasurable: “I lost everything, but the biggest loss was my son Yousef.”
Habiba, a talented young girl, excelled at school and loved painting. She had dreams of becoming a doctor, but those dreams were destroyed when an Israeli airstrike hit her home on October 25. Her mother, Feda’a Murjan, begged for an end to the bloodshed. “Please stop all of this. My Habiba is gone, and I don’t want more mothers to go through this pain.”
Twins Abdullah and Mahmoud were avid soccer players with dreams of representing Palestine on the national team. Abdullah hoped to become a defender, while Mahmoud aspired to be a goalkeeper. Their connection was more than just brotherly love—they shared the same passion, the same goals. Mahmoud would often proudly declare that he was “seconds” older than his brother.
On October 23, their dreams were shattered when an airstrike killed both boys, their mother, and several other family members.
Reem was the apple of her grandfather Khaled’s eye. He lovingly called her “the soul of the soul” and, even during the war, would bike long distances just to get her favorite foods like ketchup. “Reem was a part of my life,” Khaled told Anadolu Agency, his voice breaking as he recounted how an Israeli airstrike struck their home.
“I found myself buried under the rubble,” he said. “I suffered bruises, and my daughter was injured, but worst of all, we lost Reem and Tariq, my beloved grandchildren. My other son and daughter were also wounded.”
His dreams of seeing Reem grow up, go to university, and turn to him for advice on her future were shattered. “She was my light,” he added.
Salma was the spirited middle child between her older sister, Sarah, and her younger brother, Omar. On December 5, as their family tried to flee northern Gaza for safety, Salma ran towards her father, a photographer working for UNRWA, when she was shot and killed. “My three-year-old son, Omar, still asks me where Salma is,” Hussein Jaber told Al Jazeera. “He doesn’t understand how she could have been walking beside him, and now she’s just gone.”
Her absence haunts the family as they struggle to explain the incomprehensible to a child who can only remember her as a constant, loving presence.
Affectionately called “Little Wael” after his father, veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh, Mahmoud was determined to follow in his father’s footsteps. During the war, he and his sister Kholoud posted videos documenting Gaza’s suffering, pleading for help. “There is no safe place in Gaza. This is the fiercest war we’ve ever known,” they said in one video.
On October 25, Mahmoud’s life was cut short along with his mother, his seven-year-old sister, Sham, and his infant nephew, Adam, in an Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat refugee camp. Twenty-one others perished with them.
Mahmoud’s dream of becoming a journalist and sharing Gaza’s story with the world died that day, but his voice lives on through the videos he courageously shared.
Lauren was the “long-awaited joy” of her family. Her uncle, Akram Hassan, mourned the niece he adored before ever holding her. “For the first and last time, I became an uncle. Lauren’s laughter stole our hearts. She was the family’s fruit, as her grandfather lovingly called her.”
Lauren’s potential was limitless. “She might have grown up to be an engineer like her father, or a teacher like her mother. She could have been a beauty icon, but the oppressive machinery of the occupier stole her from us.”
Akram’s heartache pours through his words as he reflects on all the moments he’ll never share with his beloved niece.
Yousef, known for his striking green eyes, was just starting kindergarten when his life was cut short. He was killed along with his mother Du’aa and his only brother Musab, and their father followed them as a martyr ten months later.
Yousef’s mother, devastated by her loss, spoke through tears. “He’s not a number. My son has a name. People must know the names of our martyrs.”
Tala was just a child, joyfully playing outside in her pink roller skates when tragedy struck. Her father, Hussam, recounted the devastating moment: “At 5 p.m., Tala finally convinced her mother to let her go outside. A few minutes later, two massive explosions rocked our building. I rushed downstairs, and the first thing I saw was her pink roller skate, barely visible under the rubble.”
Tala was covered in blood, struggling for her last breath. The pink roller skate, once a symbol of her innocent joy, became a haunting reminder of what the war had taken from her family.
Khaled was riding his bike when he was killed in a targeted attack meant for Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi. His mother’s voice cracked as she spoke to Al Jazeera: “He’s not a number. My son has a name, and everyone must know it.”
Khaled wasn’t just a victim of war; he was a boy who cared for his family and neighbors. Every day, he carried food in his backpack to deliver to an elderly neighbor and his injured son, a small act of kindness that now carries the weight of an unimaginable loss.
Ziad was just 3 years old when an Israeli airstrike tore through his family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp. His father, consumed by grief, shared his heart-wrenching final moments. “I tried to protect you, son, but I couldn’t. I did everything I could, but it wasn’t enough.”
As Ziad’s father rushed him to the hospital, he realized his son was dying in the car. “Tell God how scared you were when the bombs fell, Ziad. Tell Him everything, my love. You used to talk about everything.”
These stories are just a fraction of the thousands of children whose lives have been stolen. These children are not numbers. They are stories, memories, and bright futures that Israel has erased. We will continue to say their names, share their stories, and never allow their humanity to be lost in the statistics.
This article is reprinted from the Quds News Network
CrossFireArabia
EDITOR’S NOTE: What follows is a tribute to Wafa Aludaini, a journalist who was killed together with her husband and two children by an Israeli military strike on her house in Deir Al Balah in central Gaza last week. She follows the stream of Palestinians journalists targeted and killed – 174 at the time of writing – by Israeli warplanes since the war on the Strip begun after 7 October 2023. The tribute is by Romana Rubeo, managing editor of the Palestinian Chronicle, who writes of how Wafa came to report for the chronicle and how the relationship between the two developed over the years.
On July 29, 2018, I received an email from a young journalist from Gaza, Wafa Aludaini, with the subject line: “I was looking at the sniper when he shot me – The story of an injured mother during the Great March of Return.”
It was the first time Wafa had reached out to us, but I was immediately struck by the power of her story, which she wanted to publish in the Palestine Chronicle.
Her approach to journalism was exactly what we were seeking – centering the voices of ordinary Palestinians, whose struggle and resilience reflected the collective resilience of the Palestinian people.
Her writing was a direct and raw narrative emanating from the heart of the Palestinian experience, told in the voice of the people, untainted by stereotypes or a lingering sense of victimization.
Wafa’s writing captured the essence of why we do what we do on a daily basis for years: amplifying Palestinian voices, and not any voices, but those that reflect the spirit of the Palestinian people, their defiance of injustice, their quest for freedom, and their courage in word and action.
Wafa seemed to exemplify all of this.
Of course, we published the story, and soon after, Wafa and I developed a deep connection, a friendship.
As I got to know her more, I discovered that Wafa was not just a storyteller – she was the story.
“I am a journalist,” she told us in an interview I conducted with her along with our chief editor, Ramzy Baroud, “but I am also a Palestinian refugee.” That identity was critical to her relationship to the Palestinian struggle.
Our bond grew over time, built on mutual respect, and shared insights into our professional and personal lives: our work, her children, and her weekly trips to the ‘frontline’ of the Great March of Return.
Every Friday, wearing her press vest – a symbol of protection from violence almost everywhere in the world, but not in Gaza – she would head to the fence that separates besieged Gaza from Israel. There, she found the stories of her people, and communicated them daily with poise and courage.
Wafa’s perspective as a woman was significant. Not only was she an empowered journalist, but she also empowered other women by giving them a platform to share their voices.
She was the founder of the October 16th group and dedicated her time to mentoring young media professionals in Gaza, especially emphasizing the importance of truth in reporting.
I, along with other editors of the Palestine Chronicle, had the privilege of working with her and her students and colleagues, where we conducted seminars for young women in Gaza. These women, inspired by Wafa, were determined to tell their own stories, in their own voice and language. Even when they spoke in weak English, somehow their narrative remained powerful.
One moment in particular stays with me. During the war in 2021, I invited Wafa to participate in an episode of an Italian podcast.
Amid the ongoing Israeli airstrikes, Wafa spoke live from Gaza. The roar of Israeli fighter jets was relentless, and though the audience couldn’t see her, they could hear her children huddled close to her.
She spoke calmly and firmly, her voice unwavering, exposing the reality of life under bombardment. Between pauses, she would turn to her children and quietly reassure them, saying, “Shhh, it’s just fireworks.”
Tragically, at dawn on Monday, September 30, those same children, two of Wafa’s beloved, were killed alongside her and her husband in an Israeli airstrike on Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
Wafa was more than a journalist; she was a symbol of resilience. As a woman, a mother, a journalist, and a voice for the Palestinian people, she embodied their struggle for justice and dignity.
At the Palestine Chronicle, we are forever grateful for the opportunity to work with someone as courageous and inspiring as Wafa.
We will continue to honor Wafa’s memory by upholding her commitment to truth and will strive to carry forward her legacy of empowering voices that deserve to be heard.
We also intend to carry on with her mission, of training young women in Gaza so that they, like Wafa, may tell the stories of their people, in their own voices.
It turned out that some angels don’t have wings. We will miss you, Wafa. I already do.
CrossFireArabia
This 10-year-old Palestinian girl, Rasha, left her will before she was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted their home in the Gaza Strip. Rasha bequeaths that her clothes be distributed to those in need and that her belongings be shared among her female cousins.
CrossFireArabia
Families fleeing violence in Lebanon are struggling to find safety in shelters across the country with at least one million people – a fifth of the population – now displaced with half leaving their homes in the past four days, Save the Children said.
Numbers are expected to swell following new relocation orders issued by Israeli forces on Tuesday, demanding residents in more than two dozen villages in the south of Lebanon to relocate north of the Awali River, approximately 50 km into the country.
The beginning of ground military operations has been widely reported by media as well as air attacks across Lebanon, including strikes on Ein El Helwe, the largest refugee camp in Lebanon, that reportedly killed seven people, including four children.
The speed of the crisis is placing immense pressure on hospitals, with over 37 Primary Health Care Centres forced to close due to safety concerns, while airstrikes have severely damaged 25 water facilities, leaving 300,000 people without access to clean water.
Over 154,000 displaced people are currently taking refuge in 851 active shelters, including public schools, with 70% of them already at full capacity, and only some equipped with proper showers, sanitation facilities, hot water and heating. Others are staying with host families, often in overcrowded conditions.
Since 23 September, Save the Children has distributed relief items to over 27,000 individuals, including 11,000 children, across 70 shelters, such as blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, and bottled water. Distributions are ongoing in the North, Bekaa, West Bekaa, Rashaya, Mount Lebanon, Saida, Sour, and Beirut.
The rate of displacement is unprecedented. During the 2016 Lebanon-Israel conflict, a similar number of people were forcibly displaced – over 970,000 – over the course of one month.
According to media reports, about 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel.
Almost 2,000 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, including 104 children, and over 8,000 have been injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
Ahmad*, 37, a father of daughters aged two years and seven months, spent a day on the road seeking safety and is now staying at a shelter in Mount Lebanon. He said:
“My wife and I are terrified about what might happen next. We’re scared for our daughters. What if something happens to them? And if something happens to us, what will become of them? Our 7-month-old cries constantly because she senses our fear; she can tell her mother is frightened, and now we’re passing that fear on to her and her two-year-old sister.”
“We need diapers and baby food, proper clothes, and basic necessities. We couldn’t bring anything with us, we barely managed to grab our children and ran for our lives.”
Abir* is a 35 -year-old mother of three children, aged 10, eight and five. Her family fled their village in the south after it was bombed and is now staying in a shelter supported by Save the Children in Mount Lebanon. She said:
“It breaks our hearts to have left our home, but we had to put our feelings aside for the sake of our children. Our village, which had never been targeted before, was bombed, and our children were already terrified by the sonic booms and fake raids.
I barely managed to pull myself together. We had prepared a bag, knowing for almost a year that we needed to be ready, but nothing could have prepared us for the carnage that erupted on 23 September. It took us a full day to travel from South Lebanon to Mount Lebanon, an exhausting journey with no final destination. At first, we had no idea where we were heading; all my husband knew was that we had to escape as quickly as possible. I worry about how my children will cope with all of this. I know the scars this experience will leave on them, and it weighs heavily on my heart.”
Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Children’s Country Director in Lebanon said:
“Children all over the country are affected by this escalating violence, their lives turned upside down almost overnight as they lose their home and sense of safety. There are families in shelters, but also so many still in their cars or in the streets of Beirut, looking for some place to go. The sense of terror is palpable. Our teams are saying that more than anything, families are paralysed by the fear of the unknown.
Children will be disproportionately affected by this armed conflict. As in all recent armed conflicts, children will number too many among casualties.
Schools are closed, shelters and hospitals in Lebanon are under growing pressure, and we are doing our best to support displaced families, but with the launch of ground military operations in southern Lebanon, we are now inevitably going to see even more large-scale forced displacement and destruction.
Children’s lives in Lebanon and in the whole region are hanging in the balance. We call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further suffering, ensure safe humanitarian access, and stop the conflict from escalating further across the region.”
Save the Children has been working in Lebanon since 1953. Since October 2023, we’ve been scaling up our response in Lebanon, supporting displaced Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian children and families, and now have escalated an emergency response throughout the country in 70 shelters. Since October 2023, we’ve supported 71,000 people, including 31,000 children, with cash, blankets, mattresses and pillows, food parcels, water bottles and kits containing essential hygiene items.
CrossFireArabia
Maryam Srour, a field communications manager for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from Beirut, Lebanon, reported from a car as she fled, describing scenes of chaos in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
On Friday 27/09/2024, we heard and felt a huge series of blasts while we were in meetings at the office.
We wrapped up work and got stuck in heavy traffic. I had just relocated to a safer place since the bombing around Beirut and across the country intensified on Monday. When I reached my new home around 10 p.m., my relatives had already joined us – leaving their homes, thinking it would be safer where we were.
From my balcony, I saw dozens and dozens of people walking in the streets carrying what they could, plastic bags, backpacks, or nothing. People in the southern suburbs around ours had received evacuation orders from the Israeli armed forces. We saw people fleeing on foot, some walking with sticks, young and elderly. Some people were in cars. We were not in the neighborhood that was targeted but we heard drones and planes. We felt them close by.
Suddenly, there was darkness all around and bombing started everywhere. There was heavy smoke and people in the streets were coughing. I was with my mum, brother and sister, and trying to figure out what to do next. Are the roads safe? Where do we go?
I had just left my house in *Dahieh—* the southern suburb of Beirut—a few days ago because of the heavy bombardments and moved to this one. We thought we would be safer here. Now we had to leave again. I grabbed a bag of essential items I had at hand. We were told that it’s better to bring mattresses, so we stuffed two in our car and took a pack of water bottles. I didn’t know what to do. There were fires everywhere following the airstrikes, and I heard a huge blast. We heard, felt and saw the strikes. Our building was shaking. There was a huge blast in a place with no advance warning for evacuation.
Surrounded by fire and smoke, I was repeating to myself, “all we need is a plan and to take action, a plan and take action; do not wait here.” We just left the place as fast as we could. I don’t know what happened to my own house, or the new house. We kept calling around and drove for a couple of hours before we figured out where to go. Around 5 a.m, we found a place on the other side of the mountains.
We were very lucky that we left when we did because the fires after the airstrikes were still raging where we had been. We just needed a place to rest a little, to see where to go next, and we still haven’t slept.
Some people are still in cars. Now we’re watching the news and shocking footage of what is happening. I know that my colleagues, MSF teams, are in the field, supplying water by trucks to shelters and schools in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, where displaced families are staying. Some people are lying down on the sidewalks. MSF managed to provide 86,000 liters of water in 24 hours, and is also distributing kits containing basic hygiene and relief items, as well as mattresses to the displaced people.
Our mental health teams are on the streets providing psychological first aid to people who are traumatized and to people seeking refuge in schools. I am used to being a humanitarian worker, but now I am also a person displaced by air strikes in my own country. We are in a safe place, for now.
CrossFireArabia
By Samaa Abu Sharar
Over a million Lebanese have fled their homes in the south of Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and the southern district of Beirut due to the unprecedented and indiscriminate Israeli raids on their cities.
In the blink of an eye, over a million people lost literally everything and became displaced on the streets of the tiny capital and other Lebanese cities they believe are safer. Luckier ones were able to secure a corner in schools or other public places that were opened by the Lebanese government to temporarily host the displaced people.
Along with the Lebanese, many Syrians and Palestinians were also displaced. Many of those resorted to the Palestinian camps to take refuge in the already cramped camps. This included refugee camps in Tyre in the south like Rashidieh.
A ‘Safe Place’
Photographer Rania Saadallah is a resident of the camp. She spoke to the Palestine Chronicle about the exodus of many families to the camp, particularly Lebanese and Palestinians with families in Rashidieh.
According to Saadallah, most of those who arrived in Rashidieh came for two reasons; one, to remain close to their villages and towns in the south and two, because they lacked the financial means to go elsewhere.
“I know a family from Bazouriye; they are 14 individuals who came and stayed with their relatives, a family of seven, because they don’t have the means to rent a place inside the camp,” she said.
The Palestinian photographer told us that there are Palestinians who live in Lebanese villages in the south who also sought refuge in the camp as they did in the war of 2006.
“They consider the camp a safe place and it is close to their villages, but most importantly there is this familiarity between people of the villages and refugees in the camps,” she explained.
This familiarity and closeness that bond both people is undeniable and the latest events are proof of that.
Palestinian refugees across Lebanon rushed to help displaced Lebanese from the very start of Israel’s war on Lebanon.
Fraternity
The youth of Ain Al-Hilweh camp were amongst the first to rush to the streets to welcome the displaced Lebanese distributing water and snacks to those stranded in their cars.
According to Walid el-Ahmad, coordinator of the ‘Hand to Hand’ initiative, the unprecedented wave of displacement caught everyone by surprise because it was much bigger than anything that was anticipated by the Lebanese government, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) or the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
El-Ahmad told the Palestine Chronicle that some people arrived at the Mar Elias camp in Beirut to stay with relatives and acquaintances but there were limited numbers because the camp is extremely small.
“We reactivated the emergency committee we created at the beginning of the genocide on Gaza, which is under the supervision of the Popular Committee of the camp,” he explained.
Enthusiasm to extend a helping hand to the displaced people was very visible.
“Despite their dire situation, refugees donated everything they had from money to food to mattresses, blankets, anything they could, they gave without hesitation,” he added.
El-Ahmad and many other activists in the camps confirm that help mostly came from individuals, small initiatives, or local organizations.
In many cases, the work of all those combined extended to schools surrounding the camps in the absence of the Lebanese government at the start of the displacement wave.
“We are entrusted with Palestine and its people until they return to their homeland,” a Lebanese man told el-Ahmad, who also supervises a clinic in the Mar Elias camp after he refused to take money from him for treating his son.
These sentiments of fraternity between Palestinians and Lebanese run very deep considering the common history and many sacrifices they both made for the Palestinian cause.
Contingency Plan
Nazira Mohammed al-Haj, a social activist who lives in the Naher El-Bared camp in the north of Lebanon, confirms these sentiments of solidarity.
“I have a friend, she has three furnished apartments in the camp. She offered two of them to displaced Lebanese families and provided them as well with groceries,” al-Haj said.
The activist emphasized that this is not a unique case as the majority of refugees in the camp rushed to offer anything they could afford.
As part of a contingency plan, UNRWA has opened several schools across the country for displaced people and already said that it will open others if there is a need for that. Two of those are in Naher El-Bared camp.
The UN agency has announced that although it gives priority to Palestinian refugees, it also welcomes displaced people of other nationalities depending on the “availability of resources.”
However, al-Haj told the Palestine Chronicle that the majority of people who arrived at Naher el Bared are staying with refugees in the camp.
“Some people gave their furnished apartments free of charge to displaced Lebanese,” she explained.
“Even generator owners and satellite and internet providers in the camp offered their services free of charge, in addition to those who donated clothes, mattresses and food items,” the activist explained.
Al-Haj attributes this overflow of solidarity with the displaced Lebanese to the fact that refugees in Naher el Bared went through a similar displacement in 2007 when clashes broke out between the Lebanese army and the Fateh El-Islam group.
Same Destiny
In the neighboring Beddawi camp, the scene is not different. Refugees of the camp along with Palestinian organizations constituted the rock for the displaced Lebanese.
Social activist Dalal Sharour spoke to the Palestine Chronicle about an initiative that was launched by the Palestinian Cultural Club in the camp through which they established a ‘station’ for all displaced Palestinians and Lebanese.
The station provided people with places to stay, received donations and offered basic aid.
“The youth in Beddawi camp are very active. They drove in a big pick-up truck roaming the camp’s streets collecting donations, which were largely received through WhatsApp groups,” Sharour said.
The Palestinian activist told the Palestine Chronicle that the Popular Committee in the camp along with many organizations created an emergency unit to collect data on the number of displaced people and their needs.
“The emergency unit will have representatives from each organization so as to coordinate efforts and not duplicate the services extended,” Sharour explained.
There are still no official numbers on how many displaced Palestinians and Lebanese headed to Tripoli in the north of Lebanon where the two camps are located. What we know is that people from the south, Bekaa and Beirut headed to Tripoli because at the moment it is considered safer than other areas.
Researcher and consultant in refugee studies Jaber Suleiman told the Palestine Chronicle that the overwhelming solidarity that the Palestinian refugees have shown towards the displaced Lebanese is expected and not strange to Palestinian refugees.
“In the face of the second phase of genocide, which started in Gaza and is continuing in Lebanon, there is a state of national Lebanese solidarity and the Palestinians are part it,” he said.
“Palestinians more than others feel the suffering of displacement and leaving one’s homes. These generations in the camps are the generations of the first, second and third Nakba, and they feel more than others with the Lebanese displaced from their villages,” the Palestinian researcher said.
Suleiman also attributes the support and solidarity to the deep gratitude Palestinians in Lebanon feel towards the Lebanese for the sacrifices they are enduring in support of Gaza and the Palestinian cause.
“If they could, they would place them in their eyes and hearts as a sign of gratitude for all they are doing,” he said.
According to Suleiman, this is not the first time that Palestinians have welcomed displaced Lebanese into their camps, since in 2006 many took refuge in Ayn el-Helweh camp despite the hardships these refugees face in a country that deprives them of many of their basic rights.
“They share the same destiny and they shed the same blood on the same soil against a common Zionist enemy, thus it’s no surprise to see this solidarity,” Suleiman concluded.
This article is reproduced from the Palestine Chronicle.
