02:33A disabled Lebanese woman was forced to evacuate her home due to Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Despite the need for special care due to her condition, Zainab al-Hajj and her husband are now homeless.
Zainab is living on the streets near Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, in an attempt to find safety from the IDF bombardment.
Footage captured on Friday shows the refugees including the disabled woman sitting on the pavement, accompanied by her husband and with just a few belongings, but none of the essentials they need to survive.
"I heard shelling on Friday as I am a resident in the al-Solom neighbourhood. I was afraid when I heard the blow and told my husband to get me out from here to anywhere, as long as we leave this place, and my husband agreed,” Zainab explained, noting that they moved to the Cola area but felt uneasy and moved on.
"No one is helping me except those who bring food to us. They didn't give us a mattress or anything else," she added.
Zainab says she is suffering from the challenges of homelessness more than most due to her limited mobility, and need for assistance when she needs to answer the call of nature. However, she remains hopeful that her situation will improve.
"My only dream is for this situation to end, for Lebanon to get back to calm and tranquillity, for fear and terror to disappear, and my second dream is to be able to walk again,” she explained.
Lebanese Environment Minister and Emergency Committee head Naser Yassin stated that the government estimates that more than a million people were displaced in just a matter of days, which he described as "one of the world's biggest” humanitarian crises.
Authorities say there are 850 shelters throughout the country, but many displaced people are forced to leave due to overcrowding and insecurity, with some choosing instead to stay in the open.
The IDF announced the launch of ‘Operation Northern Arrows’ on Monday, September 23 with the stated aim of allowing tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.
Israel began a 'limited and targeted' ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday, after over a week of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. More than 1,200 were reported killed and over 7,000 injured in those strikes at the time of publication, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Last Friday, an Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburb killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and others. Iran launched a wave of missiles on Tuesday, which it said was in response to Israeli assassinations and attacks on its allies.
Tensions in southern Lebanon first escalated in mid-September after mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios belonging to Hezbollah. The group has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
‘No one is helping me’ - Disabled Lebanese refugee forced to live on streets amid Israeli bombardment
A disabled Lebanese woman was forced to evacuate her home due to Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Despite the need for special care due to her condition, Zainab al-Hajj and her husband are now homeless.
Zainab is living on the streets near Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, in an attempt to find safety from the IDF bombardment.
Footage captured on Friday shows the refugees including the disabled woman sitting on the pavement, accompanied by her husband and with just a few belongings, but none of the essentials they need to survive.
"I heard shelling on Friday as I am a resident in the al-Solom neighbourhood. I was afraid when I heard the blow and told my husband to get me out from here to anywhere, as long as we leave this place, and my husband agreed,” Zainab explained, noting that they moved to the Cola area but felt uneasy and moved on.
"No one is helping me except those who bring food to us. They didn't give us a mattress or anything else," she added.
Zainab says she is suffering from the challenges of homelessness more than most due to her limited mobility, and need for assistance when she needs to answer the call of nature. However, she remains hopeful that her situation will improve.
"My only dream is for this situation to end, for Lebanon to get back to calm and tranquillity, for fear and terror to disappear, and my second dream is to be able to walk again,” she explained.
Lebanese Environment Minister and Emergency Committee head Naser Yassin stated that the government estimates that more than a million people were displaced in just a matter of days, which he described as "one of the world's biggest” humanitarian crises.
Authorities say there are 850 shelters throughout the country, but many displaced people are forced to leave due to overcrowding and insecurity, with some choosing instead to stay in the open.
The IDF announced the launch of ‘Operation Northern Arrows’ on Monday, September 23 with the stated aim of allowing tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.
Israel began a 'limited and targeted' ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday, after over a week of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. More than 1,200 were reported killed and over 7,000 injured in those strikes at the time of publication, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Last Friday, an Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburb killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and others. Iran launched a wave of missiles on Tuesday, which it said was in response to Israeli assassinations and attacks on its allies.
Tensions in southern Lebanon first escalated in mid-September after mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios belonging to Hezbollah. The group has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
A disabled Lebanese woman was forced to evacuate her home due to Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Despite the need for special care due to her condition, Zainab al-Hajj and her husband are now homeless.
Zainab is living on the streets near Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, in an attempt to find safety from the IDF bombardment.
Footage captured on Friday shows the refugees including the disabled woman sitting on the pavement, accompanied by her husband and with just a few belongings, but none of the essentials they need to survive.
"I heard shelling on Friday as I am a resident in the al-Solom neighbourhood. I was afraid when I heard the blow and told my husband to get me out from here to anywhere, as long as we leave this place, and my husband agreed,” Zainab explained, noting that they moved to the Cola area but felt uneasy and moved on.
"No one is helping me except those who bring food to us. They didn't give us a mattress or anything else," she added.
Zainab says she is suffering from the challenges of homelessness more than most due to her limited mobility, and need for assistance when she needs to answer the call of nature. However, she remains hopeful that her situation will improve.
"My only dream is for this situation to end, for Lebanon to get back to calm and tranquillity, for fear and terror to disappear, and my second dream is to be able to walk again,” she explained.
Lebanese Environment Minister and Emergency Committee head Naser Yassin stated that the government estimates that more than a million people were displaced in just a matter of days, which he described as "one of the world's biggest” humanitarian crises.
Authorities say there are 850 shelters throughout the country, but many displaced people are forced to leave due to overcrowding and insecurity, with some choosing instead to stay in the open.
The IDF announced the launch of ‘Operation Northern Arrows’ on Monday, September 23 with the stated aim of allowing tens of thousands of residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.
Israel began a 'limited and targeted' ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday, after over a week of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. More than 1,200 were reported killed and over 7,000 injured in those strikes at the time of publication, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Last Friday, an Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburb killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and others. Iran launched a wave of missiles on Tuesday, which it said was in response to Israeli assassinations and attacks on its allies.
Tensions in southern Lebanon first escalated in mid-September after mass explosions of pagers and handheld radios belonging to Hezbollah. The group has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.