Displaced Lebanese face harsh living conditions amid escalating conflict

*This photo shows the fire caused by Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut, Lebanon, on November 17, 2024/ Xinhua*

Pointing to a shadow in a room shared by two families, Ferial Zayat managed to give her two daughters some privacy.

Zayat, 62, lives with hundreds of other families at the Nabih Berri Technical Complex in Beirut, a public school that houses displaced people from southern and eastern Lebanon with limited daily supplies.

“We only get electricity for one hour a day, which affects water pumping and prevents us from cleaning or showering,” she said.

As winter approaches, Zayat feels cold at night. But she has no personal possessions because her family fled barefoot shortly after an Israeli airstrike on Tire destroyed a building adjacent to her home.

“It was a nightmare,” she said.

For Laila Khatib, a 60-year-old woman living in the shelter, the biggest priority is providing winter clothes for her five grandchildren.

“We can’t go back to our house because Israel is bombing Dahieh almost every day at no particular time, and we’re not sure if the house is still there,” Laila said.

Since September 23, the Israeli military has launched an intense and unprecedented airstrike on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes to shelters.

According to a report by the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the Lebanese Council of Ministers, the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered exceeded 188,190, the highest percentage of IDPs recorded in Mount Lebanon and Beirut governorates.

Nathalie Harb, a worker at the Nabih Berri Technical Complex, told Xinhua that the school accommodates about 400 families or 1,554 people, making it difficult to meet all demands.

The shelter’s director has spoken to Lebanese authorities to file a request regarding the people’s needs, but the government’s response has been limited, Harb said.

“NGOs have been very supportive, but more items are needed, including blankets, pillows, heaters and cloths, especially as winter approaches.”

Donations received by Lebanon from friendly countries constituted only 15-20 percent of the total needed in shelter centers, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, who heads the government’s disaster management unit, told Xinhua.

“Not to mention if we count all PIDs outside of shelters and many of whom are in unheated apartments,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can, but it’s hard to please everyone,” he said.