US EditionRefugees, migrants in Lebanon find rare sanctuary from Israeli strikes in Beirut church
St Joseph Church in Beirut shelters over 140 displaced refugees as government shelters reach full capacity and UNHCR faces funding shortages amid rapid displacement.
- On March 2, Israeli strikes pummeled Beirut's southern suburbs, forcing refugee Ridina Muhammad, 32, eight months pregnant, and her family to walk hours to St Joseph Tabaris Parish, which opened to migrants.
- About 300,000 people were displaced this week, but only 100,000 are in Lebanese government shelters while migrants and refugees say they were turned away during the last war.
- The Jesuit Refugee Service again supported the church, which was full within the first day with 140 people sheltering there from several countries.
- UNHCR Lebanon said it had mobilised but is only around 14 per cent funded, while March 5 shelters were reported full, leaving vulnerable refugees with urgent needs.
- These scenes echo past displacement and wider regional tensions, as Mrs Muhammad's oldest daughter, seven, stopped speaking after the 2024 war and sheltering at St Joseph reflects Hezbollah-Israel escalation amid US-Israeli tensions with Iran.
17 Articles
17 Articles
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After 15 months of a fragile ceasefire, Lebanon woke up on March 2 to the familiar sounds of Israeli bombs. As the violence escalates and tens of thousands are displaced, Lebanon's social divisions threaten to worsen an already dire situation. For the first time since the "ceasefire" with Israel of November 27, 2024, Hezbollah had launched missiles toward the northern occupied territories of Palestine. Hezbollah said in a statement that it had l…
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Everywhere is full’: Beirut’s streets, schools, docks become makeshift shelter for desperate families
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During the last few hours, the doors of the churches in Beirut, which are normally open, have remained closed. They were only opened by someone who watched over whom he wanted to enter. This is extremely rare. The reason? Fear of an influx of displaced people from southern Lebanon and the suburbs of southern Beirut, areas that have received a general evacuation order. Only in the suburbs of southern Beirut, between 300,000 and 400,000 people hav…
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