During two months of intense aerial bombardments in Lebanon, an estimated one million people, including many of our MAG colleagues, have been forcibly displaced.

The conflict has left around 100,000 homes destroyed, and the World Bank estimates the rebuilding cost will reach $3.4 billion. 

The south of Lebanon, like too many other areas, is also likely to be contaminated by the deadly legacy of explosive ordnance. 

A significant proportion of the hundreds of thousands of rockets and shells used in the war will have failed to explode, leaving them buried in the ground, lodged in the rubble or scattered across fields and olive groves. 

Each of these potentially lethal items must be located and made safe as part of a painstaking and dangerous reconstruction process – critical for community recovery, economic growth, and political stability. 

Hear from our colleagues and the communities they serve as they begin to rebuild and recover. 

Hassan 

Hassan, a deminer, has worked for MAG for two decades, helping his community recover from conflict.  

But on September 23, when the country was subject to sustained and intensive aerial bombardments, he and his family were forced to flee their home in Nabatieh, in the south of the country. 

Like one million other Lebanese people, they faced displacement, travelling as far as Syria and Iraq in search of safety. 

“It was so stressful,” Hassan said. “Our children were very brave, but I could tell they were very affected by the experience.” 

When the ceasefire was signed, Hassan returned to find his home destroyed: “When we arrived at our house it was dark. I used the torch on my phone to identify safe places to walk but I could not believe this was our home. 

“The next day was even more horrible when we could see in daylight the extent of the damage. We cried when we saw the house and the destruction. 

Despite the devastation, Hassan is determined to rebuild: “We lost enough people during this war, and we do not want to lose more. We are determined to make our community as safe as possible as soon as possible.” 

Ola 

The home of MAG's Acting Team Leader, Ola Rizk, 50, is nothing more than a heap of rubble.  

Ola, a mother of two grown-up sons, Abbas and Ali, learnt through WhatsApp that the four-storey building housing their apartment had been completely destroyed in a missile strike.  

Like many others, Ola, who has worked for MAG for 12 years, fled her village to seek safety. “We thought we were safe, but the village we stayed in was also shelled.” 

She then learned her building had been destroyed, fearing for her son, a medic who stayed behind to help. 

“We’ve lost everything – almost all I have are a handful of clothes and my MAG uniform,” Ola shared.  

Despite the loss, she remains committed. “The challenge is in my community and it’s at my front door. Happy is a strange word to use but it’s true, I am so happy to be able to have a role to play in fixing the problem so we can all return to normal. 

“More than at any time in my career, I am motivated to do my work and to clear the contamination and save more people.” 

Mariam 

Mariam Sultan, 65, a widow, has spent her life raising her children and growing her small business.   

She had a small vegetable garden and kept cows when she was younger and gradually saved enough money, while bringing up her seven children, to buy a shop and an apartment.  

Today that apartment is destroyed but her shop – thanks to God, she says – survived the missile strikes.  

“I raise my children alone and I have many grandchildren. I thank God that they are all safe – that is the most important thing.  

“I have lived through much conflict – the civil war, the war in 2006 and now this latest war. I am used to it, but the last two months have been the worst and most intense period of war I have experienced.  

“My home has been destroyed but our business survived so we can at least make money and be of help in our community.  

“And I am lucky because I am able to live with my daughter while we start to rebuild our lives.”  

Mohammed 

Mohammed Sultan’s business and home are virtually destroyed – a shell of a building with the front wall blown out and rubble strewn throughout.  

The house was built up the 60-year-old’s father, who also established the car repair workshop beneath, and was renovated only a couple of years ago.  

“When the conflict broke out, I stayed here for two weeks but was then forced to leave. It was too dangerous and too traumatising listening to the bombs fall. 

“I learnt my house had been hit when I saw it on the news, about a month into the conflict. When my wife saw the pictures, she was so shocked she became ill and had to be admitted to hospital.  

“But we are grateful that none of our family have been hurt or killed. In the 1980s my brother was killed in an air strike, so I know what the high price that people pay during war.  

“Now we are renting a house, and I am trying to work out how I can find the money to build up my business again and carry out the repairs. I spent 40 years of my life working to build this house and this business, so it is devastating.”

Jamal  

Jamal Al Sabouri’s petrol station, car wash and apartments, situated in downtown Nabatieh, were the culmination of two generations of hard work.  

“This business was started by my father 65 years ago and continued by me and my sons. Now there is nothing left.  

“I felt like my whole world had collapsed. 

Jamal, 65, has already started the task of rebuilding – which he commenced on the very first day of the ceasefire.   

He said: “I do not have enough money to complete this task, but it is important for me to make a start at least. We Lebanese people are resilient.”  

Jamal was visited by MAG community liaison supervisor Rashid Rihan, who has worked with MAG for 22 years, and community liaison officer Mireille Melhem, who has worked with MAG for five years.  

Rashid said: “The impact of the conflict has been extraordinary. So many homes, businesses and vital community assets, such as schools, have been destroyed and damaged.  

“Our role is to ensure gather the information we need to work with the Lebanon Mine Action Centre to ensure people stay safe in the immediate aftermath of the conflict and to prepare for clearance of unexploded ordnance.    

“We are very determined that no more lives should be lost and that our community can begin to recover as soon as possible.”  

Ahmed 

Ahmed Takish, 87, has lived through conflict his entire life.  

He evacuated his home in Nabatieh when the war broke out and says that when he came back, he was devastated to see the destruction in his neighbourhood, including the destruction of a landmark and historic building called Shaheen House, which was built in 1928 and only restored in 2013.     

Ahmed said: “When I came back, and I saw the damage I lost my mind. My wife and I returned on the second day of the ceasefire with the help of our families. We are so lucky that our apartment was not damaged, but it is so sad to see the amount of destruction all around us.  

“I have lived through so many conflicts and now I just hope for peace, God willing.” 

Find out more about our work in Lebanon.

Photos by MAG/Marwan Bouhaidar