Sitting among his peers, surrounded by notebooks and crayons, 12-year-old Mohamad Mehdi recalled the day his and his family’s lives changed forever: “I was at school and saw the teachers running in the hallways, so I thought they [Israeli warplanes] were going to attack the school. But as we were fleeing our village of Kfar Tebnit, I learned that our house and neighbourhood were struck.”
On 2 February, Mohamad Mehdi lost his family home in one of the Israeli strikes that hit several towns in southern Lebanon, including Kfar Tebnit and Ain Qana in Nabatiyeh governorate.1 The strikes caused widespread destruction in residential areas, displacing at least 37 families from Kfar Tebnit alone. While some attacks were preceded by so-called evacuation orders, this has not always been the case — leaving communities across the south and Bekaa living in constant uncertainty and fear.
With each new Israeli strike, pre-existing humanitarian needs are exacerbated, adding to the psychological burden borne by people who continue to show exceptional resilience in these conditions. In the aftermath of the airstrikes on Kfar Tebnit, MSF teams mobilized immediately to respond to urgent needs, distributing 40 food parcels alongside 100 blankets, 100 mattresses, and 100 pillows to the affected families. Meanwhile, our mobile medical and mental health teams have continued to provide primary healthcare services, psychological support, and health promotion activities across the governorate to support residents living through repeated trauma and continuous displacement.
Since the November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli attacks have persisted on several regions in the country and have intensified in southern Lebanon. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reports more than 10,000 ceasefire violations by Israeli forces,2 while more than 370 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since the ceasefire began. These attacks are driving repeated waves of displacement, damaging civilian infrastructure, including homes and essential services, and preventing thousands of people from returning to their villages to rebuild. “The continuing Israeli attacks do not only destroy houses and infrastructure; they erode the pillars of daily life and recovery,” Ristord added.
During our response in Kfar Tebnit, we met with Hawraa al-Mokdad, Mohamad Mehdi’s mother. A nursing teacher, she lost her home in the recent Israeli strike.
Hawraa visited our mobile medical clinic in Kfar Tebnit with her two children after she and her family faced a loss that left them reeling. The destruction was not limited to their home and personal belongings; they also lost their identity documents, medical files, and everything else that documented their lives—a shock that stripped them of their sense of stability. “My eldest son is facing difficulties studying and a lack of concentration, while his younger brother has become noticeably more restless,” Hawraa said. Choking back tears, she added, “Every morning, my boys remember their toys and all the moments they spent in our home before it was destroyed.”
This painful reality is shared by many across south Lebanon. In January, Alice Reda, a finance and human resources assistant working in MSF’s Nabatiyeh project, was visiting her parents in Kfar Hatta, Saida district, when so-called evacuation orders were suddenly issued for her town, triggering a familiar moment of panic experienced by many. “How is this still happening, and how are we expected to live with it?” she said. “How has the destruction of homes, the displacement of families, and living in constant fear become our new ‘normal’?”
In southern Lebanon, the MSF mobile clinic provides essential services, including primary care, paediatrics, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health services. In 2025 alone, our teams in Nabatieh provided over 28,000 general consultations, around 2,800 mental health consultations, and more than 10,300 health promotion sessions. These activities are continuing throughout 2026, amidst the ongoing Israeli bombardment in the region. Our teams also respond to the urgent needs following these devastating attacks and the resulting displacement by distributing essential relief items—such as food parcels, blankets, mattresses, and other necessities—to affected families. These families have not yet reached the recovery they so desperately need; rather, they are experiencing what amounts to mere survival under fire.
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Related:
- Conflict in Lebanon
- Lebanon
- MSF in Lebanon
