“We feel that the international community and public opinion are not fully aware of the gravity of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, which threatens the very existence of this country. They see only the armed conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, overlooking the toll this conflict has taken (and still takes) on the civilian population and displaced persons. We are facing a very serious humanitarian crisis.” Vincent Gelot, Œuvre d’Orient’s country Director for Lebanon and Syria, is on the other end of the phone. “If Lebanon manages to survive,” he says, “it will be thanks to Lebanese diaspora donors and international organisations that support civil society. Lebanon is an extremely important country for the region, with the most freedoms and remarkable religious diversity. It represents an opportunity for the whole region. When Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon, he said that this country was sending a message to the world. This legacy for the Near and Middle East region should not be forgotten.”
Mr. Gelot, what is the humanitarian situation in Lebanon?
I have been living and working in Lebanon for the past eight years. The country was already facing a serious situation before the war, that is, before 7 October 2023. Lebanon was in the middle of a terrible crisis already, with street protests against the country’s political elites in the autumn of 2019, amid the freezing of all bank accounts and the collapse of the local currency. Then came the explosion of the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020, followed by the COVID pandemic, which was disastrously managed.
Finally, the war that erupted last year and escalated in the last two and a half weeks.
The situation in Lebanon today is a nightmare. I have no other words to describe it.
Can you give us some figures?
There are an estimated 1.2 million displaced people in a country of 6 million inhabitants. This means that 20 percent of the Lebanese population has been displaced. Lebanon has already taken in 2 million Syrian refugees. And unfortunately, the country has been without a president and a fully functioning government for two years. The Lebanese voluntary sector, religious and especially Christian institutions, schools, homes for the disabled and the elderly, health and social services, hospitals, clinics, are bearing the burden of this crisis and the brunt of this war.
In terms of security, what is the situation?
The situation was serious long before 7 October last year. Southern Lebanon was already a war zone. Villages in the south were already being bombed. Today, the situation has worsened considerably following the extension of the range of the Israeli air strikes, which are also hitting the Bekaa plain, the area between Sidon and Tyre, and the southern suburbs of Beirut. In addition, unfortunately, there have been announcements of a ground operation in southern Lebanon about which we have no information. Is it going to be a localised operation in a particular area of Lebanon? Will there be an annexation? Is it going to be an occupation? And if so, does it mean that the people who have been displaced from these areas will not be able to return? We know nothing. Life continues in some parts of Beirut, but there are tensions, fears and worries.
What are the most serious emergencies?
It’s hard to say, because in fact the country is in a state of total collapse. The needs are many and varied, affecting all areas of life.
For my part, I would say that the situation of the displaced people is the biggest emergency at the moment. Displacement means being uprooted. In the centres supported by Oeuvre d’Oriente, I have seen many people who lost everything. In many cases, their homes were destroyed. They come to us with deep traumas, in tears, in vehicles that they loaded with just a few belongings. Women, children, the elderly, with nowhere to go. This is the face of a humanitarian crisis that risks being relegated to the margins.
So what needs to be prioritised?
Helping the displaced, providing them with shelter, food and schooling for their children is the number one priority. Secondly, medical care for the injured. Only one hospital has a large burn unit. And that hospital is currently treating all the civilians who have been affected by the air strikes. They arrive in very serious condition, sometimes with burns covering 70 to 80 percent of their bodies. The third emergency situation is that of the people who remained in their villages because they refuse to leave. I am thinking in particular of the Christian villages on the border with Israel. In the absence of the Lebanese army, they have set up self-defence mechanisms to prevent Hezbollah militias from entering and firing rockets into Israel from these border zones. These villages have chosen not to take sides, but today they are cut off from the world. Of particular concern is the situation in the Christian village of Rmeish, where 5,000 families have become stranded, taking in displaced people from surrounding villages. They have no electricity, no food, no medicine, nothing. We sent humanitarian convoys, escorted by the Lebanese army. They fear that if they leave their village, they will never be able to return.
