“Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a war, where we had to leave everything behind and move,” says Amal Ahmad, a 61-year-old Palestinian refugee in the camp. Burj El-Barajneh, Lebanon. Amal has heard countless stories from her parents about how they fled Palestine during the war, but she never imagined she would have to go through the same experience again.
Following the recent Israeli bombings in Lebanon, many Palestinian refugee families from various regions – notably south of Beirut and the Bekaa – have fled their homes in search of safer shelter, away from the bombs. Although the bombing in southern Lebanon had continued since the start of the Gaza offensive, what happened that day was something they had never experienced before. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health 1,640 people were killed, 8,408 injured. In addition, 211,319 people are displaced.
“This conflict never ends.” and our movement from one place to another continues. Just before south Beirut was bombed again, Amal and her two daughters began looking for a car to leave the area. They gathered what little they could and hurried to escape the camp. “First of all, we didn’t know where to go; “All I thought about was that we had to leave to protect the children.”
About half of the population of Palestinian refugees reside in areas dangerously close to affected towns. In southern Lebanon, there are seven camps. For many, remaining there poses a significant risk to their lives, prompting families to leave their homes and escape this endless nightmare.
Amal learned that schools run by UNRWA, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees, had been prepared to accommodate as many displaced Palestinians as possible. She and her daughters considered going to schools in the north, but then received a call from her sister Abeer inviting them to stay at her home in the Nahr El-Bared camp.
A trip to Nahr El-Bared, located in northern Lebanon near the Syrian border, is expected to take between an hour and a half to two hours from Beirut; However, it took Amal’s family about four hours to arrive at the camp.
Others spent more than ten hours stuck in traffic, trying to flee south to safer areas. “Nothing was normal. The traffic was unbearable. We had no food or water for the children. I didn’t bring any clothes other than what I was wearing. I even forgot my baby’s milk and bottle. My mother forgot her medicine,” says Doaa, Amal’s daughter.
Doaa, her sister and her mother left without their husbands, driven by fear for their children’s safety and clinging to the hope that they would return soon. “We saw many families left in their cars in the middle of the night, not knowing where to go or who to call. We were lucky to have more than one option.
Fatmeh Al-Hassan, a 56-year-old Palestinian refugee who lived in southern Lebanon, explains how when she heard the bombs falling, they began packing their belongings. “We took the essentials in the evening to escape the intensification of the conflict,” he recalls. “I left the south with my son and his family on September 24, terrified. »
Fatmeh and her family closely followed the news of the offensive in Gaza and the conflict in the south, realizing that there was no longer a safe place in their region. It took more than five hours to reach the Nahr El-Bared camp, where two schools were opened to accommodate the displaced people.
Nails 1,400 people now reside in UNRWA shelters hoping to be safe from bombing. “No place is safe; We no longer feel safe in Lebanon. As if everything we have already suffered in this country, the economic crisis and now this conflict, was not enough. We are not well; We struggle to survive and yet we find ourselves stuck, with nowhere to go,” says Fatmeh’s daughter-in-law helplessly. “We cannot bear to live in this situation; “We left to protect our lives and those of the children,” he said.
As the conflict continues to escalate in the south, more Palestinian refugee families are finding themselves homeless and at risk of death.
As the situation worsens, UNRWA opened seven shelters, to serve those fleeing Israeli bombings and preparations have been completed to open 12 more, which will be opened if necessary. All of these facilities are equipped with food, water, medicine, toilets, showers, fuel and solar panels. Their health teams are prepared and health facilities are operational. They also activated the response to the hospitalization of injured civilians.
