Lebanon’s internal refugees face racism, discrimination and evictions in search for safety
The dusty corridors, broken windows, and locked doors of the apartment block in central Beirut are testament to Lebanon’s ongoing economic disaster.
But this relic of one crisis has been repurposed for the latest.
Hundreds of people fleeing Israeli bombing in the south of the country have come here – and taken over the building.
They’ve cleared rooms of junk, and installed water, electricity, and naked bulbs for lighting.
But the refugees here face not just difficult living conditions but resentment – sometimes racist – and suspicion because many have come from Dahieh, in the south of the city: Hezbollah territory.
Hawraa Saad fled Dahieh and lives here with her husband and three young children in a single room that she has made spotless.
“When we came, it was extremely dirty,” she tells Sky News. “I cleaned it very well because I have little kids who have allergies, and we can’t afford to go to the hospital.”
This week, however, police came to clear out the new occupants. It quickly became a small-scale riot, with objects being thrown. Some 400 families had been here before; now only 170 remain.
Hawraa Saad and her husband fled Dahieh and lives in Beirut with her husband and three young children
“We have no options,” another woman who asks not to be identified says.
“We had to sleep in the streets yesterday because we didn’t want to face the police again and get beaten. We are not settlers or terrorists; we are just seeking shelter.”
The Lebanese government says more than 1.2 million people have been displaced because of Israel’s attacks on the country – a significant proportion of the total population of around 5.8 million.
They have been put up in schools and shelters but they are now full. And others told us that people from Dahieh find it harder to find accommodation.
One Syrian man, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing his job, tells us that landlords were refusing to take families, even those willing to pay.
One of the rooms in the house that has been repurposed for refugees
Unrest broke out last week after police tried to clear families from the building
“When there are big families, they are worried that they are connected to Hezbollah; they have security concerns,” he said.
“There are some cases where they rent to them for one day and then kick them out the next.”
He says that his wife, who wears a veil, was questioned by the security services. He sent her and their son back to Syria for their safety.
Others echo that tale.
Sherine Ahmad, 26, fled Israeli bombing in Dahieh with her husband and one-year-old son. She was heavily pregnant and when she arrived in Beirut, she gave birth to another son, a month premature. He remains in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
She is now staying in Mar Elias, a refugee camp founded in 1952, now a sprawling mass of concrete tenements.
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“Here, I feel some people are racist; when they know we are Palestinians, they don’t help us,” she says.
“They only help Lebanese. However, since this is a camp for Palestinians, we receive better treatment.
“There are people who don’t like those coming from Dahieh, while others welcome and support them.
“Imagine running away and escaping while having to think about where you will go and whether you will be welcomed or not.”
All the while we speak, an Israeli drone whirrs loudly above us, circling the city.
It is still not quite an escape, not while the war still rages.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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