Christmas in South Lebanon: Villages Orphaned of Their Youth
Katia Kahil 2025-12-21 11:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanon South Lebanon USA Displacement
In the villages of South Lebanon, Christmas flickers like a fragile flame. Despite the ever-present fear and palpable tension, church bells toll and evening gatherings are held. In Alma al-Shaab, Yaroun, Deir Mimas, Khiam, and Marjayoun, garlands and nativity scenes timidly pierce the deserted streets. Once alive with laughter and reunion, these ...
South Lebanon Ceasefire: One Year On, Life in Limbo
Katia Kahil 2025-11-25 13:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Hezbollah Lebanon Israel South Lebanon
One year after the ceasefire, south Lebanon remains a land fraught with tension. Even when the strikes seem to ease, the shadow of war lingers. Israel’s sporadic bombardments never truly stop, and each moment of calm feels like a brief pause in an invisible countdown. Life here is fragile, shaping a population caught between the urgent need ...
Children of the Ruins: Rebuilding the Soul of South Lebanon
Katia Kahil 2025-11-16 14:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
One year after the bombings that ravaged southern Lebanon, the villages are slowly rebuilding. Walls are repainted, schools have reopened, yet behind the desks, young hearts remain fragile. The children of this region carry a silent trauma, born from the roar of bombs, sleepless nights, and constant fear. Where the sirens have fallen silent, the ...
Southern Lebanon’s Olive Trees: Peace Left to Fallow
Katia Kahil 2025-11-02 11:30 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
South Lebanon Lebanese Army United Nations USA
After a spiral of violence that devastated villages and farmland, the scars of war remain visible in Deir Mimas, Khiam, Houla, Blida, and Mays al-Jabal. More than 60,000 olive trees have been destroyed. “This year, we lost everything,” says Rose from Deir Mimas. “The trees are no longer pruned, the olives wither on the branches, and no one ...
One Year On: Southern Lebanon Devastated
Katia Kahil 2025-10-11 11:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
One year after the September 2024 war, southern Lebanon bears deep scars. Ravaged by strikes and displacement, the region faces a dual crisis: a collapsing economy and the quiet unraveling of its social fabric. Behind shattered facades and shuttered markets, an entire way of life teeters on the brink of a merciless winter. Agonizing Markets In ...
South Lebanon’s Mouneh: A Living Culinary Heritage
Katia Kahil 2025-09-28 15:55 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
In South Lebanon, life continues under the shadow of targeted Israeli strikes, and the future remains uncertain. Yet in Marjayoun and Hasbaya, daily life carries on. Amid the threat of renewed conflict and the slow, difficult return to their villages, residents hold fast to their traditions, especially the ancestral practice of Mouneh, the careful ...
Struggling Back to School in Southern Lebanon’s Border Villages
Katia Kahil 2025-09-14 10:02 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanon Southern Lebanon Back to school
In a world where going to school is a basic right, stepping into a classroom in southern Lebanon requires courage. The 2025–2026 school year is far from being ordinary. In the border villages of Taybeh, Mays al-Jabal, Rmeish, Khiam and Bint Jbeil, returning to classes feels like navigating through the remnants of recent conflict. Each lesson ...
Southern Lebanon Defies the Odds as Summer Comes Alive Again
Katia Kahil 2025-08-10 12:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Hezbollah South Lebanon
In the villages of Marjayoun and Hasbaya, summer has quietly reclaimed its place, defying fear and hardship. Restaurants, swimming pools, vineyards, festivals, and village fairs have all come back to life, offering a tender yet powerful reminder that, even under the watchful presence of Israeli drones, the spirit of the South continues to beat ...
From Sweida to Hasbaya: The Druze Soul Under Strain
Katia Kahil 2025-07-31 13:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
While Syria’s Sweida province remains on edge following July’s deadly clashes, the reverberations are deeply felt across the border in Hasbaya. In this part of southern Lebanon—as elsewhere in the Druze world—identity transcends borders. The people of Hasbaya have lived this tragedy as their own, with Druze Sheikh al-Aql, Sami Abi ...
South Lebanon’s Risky Homecoming
Katia Kahil 2025-07-25 09:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Hezbollah South Lebanon
More than six months after the ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Beirut, tension still grips southern Lebanon. Israeli troops remain stationed in parts of the border region, even though the withdrawal deadline has passed. Yet amid the uncertainty, families are making their way back - cautiously, deliberately - to villages scarred by the ...
Farming the Red Zone: Between Fear and Resilience
Katia Kahil 2025-07-11 14:50 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Lebanon Hezbollah South Lebanon agriculture
Farming has always been a challenge in Lebanon—especially in the country’s south. Long overlooked by authorities, the agricultural sector has struggled to stay afloat. Over the past two years, the burden has only grown heavier. Regional instability, economic hardship, and institutional neglect are pushing the land—and those who tend it—to ...
South Lebanon’s Young Pioneers: Rebuilding Life Against the Odds
Katia Kahil 2025-07-02 13:10 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Lebanon South Lebanon war youth
In South Lebanon, where the scars of past conflicts still run deep, a fresh wave of energy is quietly taking root. It isn’t the product of government initiatives, but rather the determined work of a young generation refusing to succumb to despair. Against all odds, young entrepreneurs are returning to their villages, reopening shops, cafés, ...
Saint George’s Day in Klayaa: A Heritage of Tradition and Faith
Katia Kahil 2025-04-23 13:15 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
In South Lebanon, a land once graced by the footsteps of Christ, hope quietly persists. Among the ruins of buildings, the scars of damaged roads and the remnants of once-vibrant villages, the echoes of the horrors from the last war still resonate, bearing witness to a painful history that refuses to fade. Yet, in Klayaa and Marjayoun, the streets ...
Southern Lebanon: When Adversity Shapes Women's Autonomy
Katia Kahil 2025-03-08 13:05 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
The fight against violence towards women, for civil rights, and for equal pay is a global battle that continues to this day. Every step forward brings us closer to a fairer society. Yet, behind each achievement lies a series of challenges that only deepens a woman's resolve to persevere and never give up. The women of southern Lebanon embody this ...
The Displaced People of Southern Lebanon Bear Continuous Losses
Katia Kahil 2025-01-27 21:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Hezbollah South Lebanon
Kfar Kila, Odaisseh, Taybeh, Mays al-Jabal and Wazzani were once renowned for their lush fields filled with fruit trees, their majestic hills and the streams that enlivened the area with their soft murmurs. Life there was simple, with days unfolding peacefully to the rhythm of family rituals and traditions. Then came the war. It was the beginning ...
President Joseph Aoun’s Deep Connection to Southern Border Villages
Katia Kahil 2025-01-11 16:40 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Joseph Aoun Lebanese Army South Lebanon celebration
Following the ceasefire and the deployment of the Lebanese Army in border villages, President Joseph Aoun was the first to visit Marjayoun, Klayaa and Khiam on December 23, 2024. At the time, he was still serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and was accompanied by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He is especially familiar with the ...
Christmas in South Lebanon: A Breath of Life, a Hint of Melancholy
Katia Kahil 2024-12-24 11:03 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
We’ve all lost something, but we’ve also learned to help one another. It’s important to keep the Christmas spirit alive, even if it’s challenging under the current circumstances. We need to show that we’re rooted here, that we haven’t given up hope,” says Paul, a shop owner in Marjeyoun, as he carefully ...
The Army in Khiam: The First Step Toward a Full Return
Katia Kahil 2024-12-12 22:11 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Khiam Lebanese army Ceasefire
On the night of Tuesday, December 10, a powerful explosion rocked the Marjayoun region, leaving residents in uncertainty as its cause remained unclear. By morning, it appeared that a family had attempted to discreetly return to their home in Khiam, defying Israeli army restrictions on approaching its positions along the border. Shortly after the ...
A Bitter, Anxious and Determined Return to the Devastated Border Region
Katia Kahil 2024-11-27 20:10 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Hezbollah Lebanese Army ceasefire displaced
Barely had the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel taken effect at 4 AM on Wednesday that thousands of displaced Lebanese set out, eager — or hoping — to return to their homes. The wait had been extremely long, and the impatience palpable. On the road home, a blend of anxiety, anticipation and hope hung in the air. What would they find upon ...
In Deir Mimas, Fear Has Not Killed Hope
Katia Kahil 2024-11-23 15:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Every day, Maha lights a candle to the Virgin Mary. On November 22, the 81st anniversary of Independence Day, she performed the same ritual—but this time, with a heavier heart. The Israeli army had just taken up positions in her village, Deir Mimas, located about seven kilometers from the southern border in the Marjayoun district. The village is ...
Rampant Looting in Marjayoun Adds to the Suffering of Its Displaced Inhabitants
Katia Kahil 2024-11-16 11:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam Hezbollah South Lebanon Marjayoun
In the South Lebanon town of Marjayoun, most homes have shuttered their windows, and shops have rolled down their metal gates. Cars rarely pass through what has become a ghost town. The majority of its 15,000 residents have fled the bombings that have extended to residential areas and neighborhoods on the outskirts or within the town. However, ...
A Sad Season for Olive Harvest in the Border Zone
Katia Kahil 2024-11-05 10:00 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
A viral video by Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, is astonishing. He claims that Lebanese farmers have crossed the border to participate in the olive harvest in Israel, even calling it “a sign of brotherhood,” while those farmers can’t even access their own lands. It seems surreal, especially since a few ...
Hasbaya: A Haven for Thousands of Displaced People
Katia Kahil 2024-10-19 19:10 - Reading : 6 minute(s)
Lebanese Red Cross South Lebanon United Nations USA
On September 23, the situation in Southern Lebanon, marked by artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah since October 8, 2023, took a significant turn after an escalation declared by Tel Aviv. An urgent phone call from Israeli authorities sent shockwaves through Marjayoun and neighboring villages (Ebel Saqi, Khiam, Kfarchouba, Shebaa, ...
Qlayaa, Rmeish, and Marjayoun Inhabitants: Die with Dignity Rather than Live in the Street
Katia Kahil 2024-10-06 20:00 - Reading : 8 minute(s)
Nawaf Salam south Lebanon marjeyoun Rmeish Klayaa bombardment israel
Despite feelings of abandonment, fear, and concern, the residents of three southern Lebanon border villages — Qlayaa, Rmeish, and Marjayoun — are determined not to leave. They cling to the hope that the war raging around them will not reach their communities, where Hezbollah has no active presence. The exodus of residents from southern ...
Christmas in South Lebanon: A Glimmer of Enduring Hope
Katia Kahil 2023-12-24 11:22 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
The residents of southern Lebanon are gearing up for an unusual Christmas, given the difficult times that the region is going through. Yet, in this land that bore witness to the passage of Christ, hope remains. While it’s true that this holiday season may be particularly somber, there are still small things, small gestures, that persist in ...