SOUTHERN LEBANON - Traffic moves slowly towards south of Lebanon, crossing the Qasmiyeh Bridge, which was struck by Israeli forces, as displaced families return, with citrus and banana plantations stretching across the horizon. Some making their way to the UNESCO World Heritage coastal city of Sour, also known as Tyre, after 46 days of Israeli bombardment, which remains home to people who did not abandon the city.
The scale of destruction from strikes has altered the city and the people living in it. While palm trees line the Mediterranean seafront with fishing boats, nearby 10-floor buildings ravaged in half. Homes and streets have been replaced by craters several metres deep, and cars sit abandoned, punctured by shrapnel.
During the escalation, most residents were forcibly displaced, while those who remained were largely cut off after airstrikes destroyed key bridges linking the south to the rest of the country. Humanitarian workers withdrew; healthcare staff faced near-daily attacks, and ongoing bombardment forced people to stay indoors.
While the 10-day ceasefire has brought some sense of relief, its fragility - including the sound of an Israeli drone overhead and echoes of explosions near the border - has not brought certainty. People question whether attacks will resume, whether they will have access to food, fuel, and medicine, and whether they can return again if they leave.
Isolated, bombed and cut off from healthcare
Throughout the 46 days of Israeli bombardments, people who stayed in the south didn’t do so because it was safe, but because leaving was not possible due to cost, lack of shelter, fear of losing their homes, and the sense of indignity associated with forced displacement. In the last escalation, many in and around Sour were already displaced from nearby towns from the southern border due to Israeli incursions on their homes, and were unwilling, or simply unable, to go through it all again.
“We stayed here and didn’t leave, thank God,” said Hamad Darweesh, the secretary of the Jal El Bahr Palestinian community in Sour, where his family was displaced in 1948 because of the Nakba. “For 46 days, we were trapped without basic necessities to survive. We had no medical care or anything.”
Attacks on healthcare and continuous bombings by Israeli forces, cut people’s access to healthcare. Israeli strikes occurred with and without warning, including on and near health facilities and ambulances. While most international actors left the south due to insecurity, also local health facilities had to close due to nearby strikes. People couldn't move outside and would avoid crowds or separate family members to reduce risk of getting killed by bombings.
“Some patients stopped taking their medication because it wasn’t available,” says Aida Hassounch, MSF general doctor. “They also wanted to prioritize food and water. At the same time, they have no sense of security for the coming days.”
Forcibly displaced by ground invasion of Israeli forces
The Israeli forces ground invasion in southern Lebanon, including the “yellow line” - a no-go zone where Israeli forces have occupied part of Lebanese territory - cutting off people from returning to their homes in some 55 villages. The destruction and demolition of entire villages and communities have left thousands forcibly displaced.
“Everyone is heartbroken and sad for the state of their village, and so are we,” explains MSF patient Salha Srour. She was displaced multiple times, originally from her border town of Aita ash Shaab. “We hear the sound of explosions. Why are our villages and homes being destroyed? Why is there a yellow, red and blue line? We used to eat from what grew around our houses: lettuce, mint, and parsley, everything we used to plant near the house. It isn’t right to live like this.”
While the local health workers have continued to work throughout the war under immense pressure for months, MSF teams in south Lebanon, including Sour and Nabatyieh, are providing primary healthcare, mental health support, sexual and reproductive health and supporting referrals for secondary healthcare, and are supporting hospitals with trauma and emergency care. MSF continues to call for an urgent scale-up of humanitarian aid and unhindered access to aid for people in need across the country.
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