Shelters began opening on the first day of the war, run by both the government and civil society groups. Schools and stadiums became official shelters. Churches, abandoned buildings and parking lots are accommodating many others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over 1 million people have been displaced since early March.<\/p>\n
Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) leapt into action to provide food and other essentials.\u00a0Ahla Fawda<\/a>, a humanitarian and environmental organization in Beirut that usually works on urban planning and initiatives like buying up plastic waste, instantly shifted their operations toward crisis response, according to founder Imane Assaf. Ahla Fawda\u2019s Eco Hub, which provided relief during the 2024 war with Israel, is now operating as a place for displaced people to get together for meals, share space and access clothing and other supplies. Ahla Fawda has partnered with the We Deserve Better Foundation to manage the space, and\u00a0Barzakh<\/a>, usually a library and cafe, is providing meals that are cooked onsite by volunteers.<\/p>\n Nation Station, a community kitchen that was birthed as an immediate response to the\u00a0Beirut Port explosion<\/a>\u00a0on Aug. 4, 2020, also resumed crisis operations. It has served over 28,761 meals a day since the war began and is always buzzing with volunteers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteers show up at Eco Hub, Nation Station and many other sites daily. \u201cThe first day the displacement began, I began looking for places to assist and volunteer,\u201d said Nour Haddad, an architect based in Beirut. \u201cI went to Nation Station because I knew it is always open.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Officially, government shelters are meant to be open to all displaced people, regardless of nationality or migration status. But reports have surfaced of non-Lebanese people being turned away. Lebanon is home to more than a million Syrian refugees and 200,000 displaced Palestinians, many of whom now find themselves displaced again. Along with migrant workers, they are among the most vulnerable in Lebanon, with limited access to jobs and services like public health care.\u00a0Over 180,000 Syrians<\/a>\u00a0have returned to Syria, a country that has remained relatively stable in the current regional crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many migrant workers have ended up in informal shelters or camping out. Initiatives led by migrant workers have sprung back into action, some of them operating as part of Reclaim Our Rights collective, a coalition of women migrant workers in Lebanon who organize and advocate for rights of domestic workers and provide community support. A statement from Reclaim Our Rights said that its membership, made up of \u201ccommunity leaders, mothers and activists,\u201d was assisting displaced migrant women through community kitchens, food boxes and assistance paying rent to informal shelters.<\/p>\n Many fundraisers and volunteers are putting their efforts toward those outside the conventional shelter system. \u201cRecently, I\u2019ve been trying to go towards other initiatives [besides Nation Station], too,\u201d Haddad said, \u201cto divide my time as per the needs announced on social media or spontaneous WhatsApp groups that have emerged since early March.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Social media groups have become a crucial way to connect NGOs and individual aid efforts with shelters that are outside the governmental system or lack support. One such hub is a WhatsApp group begun by students at the Saifi Institute for Arabic Language, which draws Arabic learners of all ages from around the world. Group announcements range from specific calls, such as an individual family that needs children\u2019s clothing, for example, to information like where to find medical assistance. The group has expanded to include other foreigners living in Lebanon, a few local residents and several NGOs, including a Brazilian humanitarian project and a fundraiser providing sanitary napkins.<\/p>\n Even as locals and foreign residents within Lebanon have mobilized, Lebanese expats around the world are also running fundraising campaigns to distribute aid and cash to displaced people across Beirut. Tania Shoukair, a mental health worker who lives in the Netherlands, is fundraising for the second time, after doing so during the 2024 war in Lebanon. \u201cI feel somehow I have managed to make my way into the epicenter of privilege, and organizing mutual aid is the minimum I can do at this moment,\u201d Shoukair said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Global political education on the Israeli war on Gaza has raised solidarity for the current situation in Lebanon, helping with fundraising, Shoukair added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOrganizing mutual aid is the minimum I can do at this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Shoukair\u2019s sister Chiri, a journalist and musician in Lebanon, is among the network that distributes the aid on the ground. A majority of the funds go toward direct financial support to families, who receive either $50, $100 or $150, depending on the size of the family. Another 20% is spent on blankets, pillows and mattresses, and the rest goes to clothing, personal hygiene supplies, food boxes and medicine, with some set aside to take care of stray animals. Chiri stretches the money as far as she can by collaborating with local businesses and initiatives, and buying items in bulk.<\/p>\n For Jad Essayli, a Lebanese American lawyer who raised funds for the first time after the Beirut blasts in 2020, when he was still living in the U.S., tapping into a global network from his home in Lebanon has been essential. Lebanon has one of the biggest diaspora populations in the world and yet, Essayli said, \u201cMost of our donations are coming from non-Lebanese people.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Essayli and others said that what\u2019s challenging is not necessarily raising funds but getting them into Lebanon, due to its unique banking situation. The country\u2019s 2019 banking crisis triggered a host of restrictions on withdrawals and transfers from abroad. Lebanon also lacks platforms and tools such as GoFundMe or major credit card systems, Shoukair said. These issues also cause delays in disbursing funds to families, Essayli said.<\/p>\n While food, water, gas and clothing are increasingly scarce as the crisis deepens, the most urgent need Essayli saw in Beirut, Saida and other southern cities was money for housing. \u201cPeople were going back to [damaged] homes made targets by Israel, because of the lack of money to rent another place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Given the sheer scale of the crisis, volunteers and fundraisers are already overwhelmed, four weeks in. As Israeli aggression intensifies by the day, with\u00a0plans<\/a>\u00a0to turn south Lebanon into an occupied \u201cbuffer zone<\/a>\u201d and some Israeli politicians even calling for an annexation, there is a deep fear of a protracted crisis and a sense that the response from the Lebanese government has left much to be desired. Essayli described a feeling that many share as they face a war with no end in sight: \u201cI hope for an immediate response from the Lebanese government for dignified housing, with a long-term consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as the European Union and countries including Italy, France and Jordan have pledged aid, Essayli is concerned that the external aid is not sufficiently making its way to the ground. He also hopes for greater commitments of support as humanitarian needs in the country grow by the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Assaf said that her greatest concern is not about funding for aid efforts, but about peace. \u201cI hope I can sleep without having to wake up the next day to bad news, yet again,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hope for all families to be able to return home.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/matomo.gif\")
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