Displaced families from southern Beirut are living in makeshift tents inside downtown Azarieh buildings. They face cramped conditions, constant fear from explosions and an uncertain future as the conflict widens.
Hundreds of displaced Lebanese are sheltering in the Azarieh buildings in central Beirut after violence spread beyond traditional front lines. About 250 families now live in improvised tents in the commercial district, with a communal kitchen, water and aid distributions but little space, privacy or peace.
Fatme A., who fled her home in Ouzai with her husband, mother and seven-year-old daughter, described life in a cloth shelter among stacked mattresses and other families. Her husband, a carpenter, helps repair tents and organize the makeshift camp. Nights are hardest, she says: the explosions are loud and children sleep fully dressed from fear.
The escalation follows the wider conflict tied to Iran. After the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Hezbollah joined attacks on Israel, and Israel has widened strikes into central Beirut at times without warning. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has proposed creating a buffer zone as far north as the Litani River and said houses in border villages would be destroyed; Lebanon’s defense minister called that a plan for a new occupation.
International monitors and aid officials warn of growing humanitarian harm. UNIFIL and the Lebanese government reported more than 15,400 ceasefire violations and over 370 people killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon by February 2026. At a UN meeting on March 31, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator said 1,240 people had been killed and 3,500 injured in Lebanon, and more than 1.1 million people were displaced. Doctors Without Borders said continuing attacks are eroding the basics of daily life and recovery.
Despite the uncertainty, displaced families try to find small comforts. Fatme says she feels hope when her daughter laughs while playing with other children. But the noise of drones and distant explosions quickly returns them to the present: two tents, a makeshift life and an uncertain future.
Source: World | Deutsche Welle
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