Displaced Southern Lebanese Fear Second Relocation: Struggling Far from Home

A building destroyed by Israeli bombing in the border town of Khiam (EPA)
A building destroyed by Israeli bombing in the border town of Khiam (EPA)
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Displaced Southern Lebanese Fear Second Relocation: Struggling Far from Home

A building destroyed by Israeli bombing in the border town of Khiam (EPA)
A building destroyed by Israeli bombing in the border town of Khiam (EPA)

Despite being displaced for ten months, southern Lebanese residents, who fled the war with Israel, are still struggling to adapt to their new lives.

They continue to hope for a return to their homes while fearing the possibility of being displaced again due to the ongoing conflict.

While they are managing as best they can, there is a deep sense of loss over their damaged or destroyed homes and livelihoods.

Some are waiting for the opportunity to return, but others, like Ali Ghandoor, have started over elsewhere.

Ghandoor moved from the border town of Khiam to Nabatieh, where he opened a new restaurant similar to his old one.

“We stayed in Khiam for a month and a half after the war began on October 7, then moved to Zahle for two months. Realizing the war might last longer, I decided to start fresh in Nabatieh,” Ghandoor told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I rented a place, moved some equipment, and bought new supplies. It’s a risky move, but waiting indefinitely isn’t an option.”

He added that returning to Khiam immediately after the war ends isn’t feasible and predicted it will take at least two years to rebuild.

“We’ll likely stay in Nabatieh and hope we won’t have to move again if the war worsens.”

Moreover, Ghandoor and his family are struggling to adjust to their new life.

“We’ve been hit hard emotionally, mentally, and financially,” he admitted.

“The income from this new restaurant is much lower than what I had in Khiam, but at least it provides for us,” he explained.

As the new school year approaches, Ghandoor hopes to enroll his children in a local school after a difficult year with online classes.

Like Ghandoor, Umm Suleiman and George are waiting for the war to end. Umm Suleiman moved from Yaroun, a border town, to Babilieh in the Sidon district.

George fled from Dibbail to Metn; both towns are in the Bint Jbeil district.

Umm Suleiman lives in Babilieh with her husband, daughter, and son-in-law, staying in a friend’s house for free.

George and his family, along with his two sisters, are staying in their brother’s house in Dekwaneh, Metn, while he is in Germany. Both families are trying to adjust, hoping to return home soon.

“We left our home after October 7, when the bombing got worse. We didn’t think the war would drag on this long. It’s affecting our health—we feel sick and tired all the time. But we’re hopeful and determined to return home soon. We won’t let the Israelis force us out of our land,” Umm Suleiman told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Being displaced has also separated Umm Suleiman from her family, with each member moving to different places.

“I’m far from my family and only see them occasionally now. We used to live together in the same town,” she said.

Moreover, she worries about having to move again if the war expands and is concerned about rising rental prices.

“During the 2006 war, we went to Syria, but that’s not possible now. We just want to get back home as soon as we can,” said Umm Suleiman.

George, from Dibbail, feels somewhat safe in Dekwaneh, where he’s staying, believing it’s less likely to be targeted if the war worsens. Still, he finds it hard to adjust after living in the south.

“We’re fortunate to have moved into our brother’s house, and I’m teaching online like my children. But my sister, who’s also a teacher, couldn’t handle the displacement and went back to Dibbail about a month ago,” said George.

“We know our situation is better than many, but we’re all waiting for the war to end so we can return home. We’re tired of being displaced and can’t take much more,” he added.



Kurdish-Turkish Settlement: Shaping a New Middle East

Tulay Hatimogulları speaks at a press conference. Asharq Al-Awsat file photo
Tulay Hatimogulları speaks at a press conference. Asharq Al-Awsat file photo
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Kurdish-Turkish Settlement: Shaping a New Middle East

Tulay Hatimogulları speaks at a press conference. Asharq Al-Awsat file photo
Tulay Hatimogulları speaks at a press conference. Asharq Al-Awsat file photo

A string of pivotal developments in recent months has forged new and unprecedented dynamics - mainly related to the Kurdish cause - across the region.

The collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8 shifted the calculations of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), pushing them to break their isolation from Iraqi Kurdish factions.

Simultaneously, an overture by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, who called for the disarmament of his group, opened communication channels between Türkiye’s Kurds and their counterparts in Iraq and Syria.

At the heart of this political transformation is Tulay Hatimogulları, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). A leftist Turkish politician of Arab Alawite origin, she embodies the complex identities of the Levant and its interconnected communities.

With her modest charisma and approachable style, Hatimogulları rarely turns down a request for a photo or a chat from her Kurdish supporters. An Asharq Al-Awsat correspondent met her in Diyarbakir—known to Kurds as Amed—shortly after her arrival from Ankara.

She was quick to tell them, in fluent Arabic, that she hails from Iskenderun, a region that was part of the autonomous Syrian district of Alexandretta under French control from 1921 until its controversial annexation by Türkiye in 1939, following a disputed referendum and the displacement of many of its original inhabitants.

Hatimogulları comes from a family of Arab Alawites who remained in the area. Today, she stands out as one of the few Turkish politicians capable of mediating between Ankara and the PKK at what many view as a potentially historic moment.

On February 27, Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in the island prison of İmralı in the Sea of Marmara, issued a call for the PKK to lay down its arms and disband. His message was relayed by DEM party representatives who met him in prison. Ocalan was captured by Turkish special forces in Kenya in February 1999, and since then, most PKK fighters have been based in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.

Ocalan’s call came after a statement last October by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a key ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Türkiye’s parliament. Bahçeli proposed a deal to free Ocalan in exchange for the PKK’s cessation of its insurgency.

Hatimogulları, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, explained that “with the PKK’s announcement of plans to hold a disarmament conference, it is essential that military operations and airstrikes cease. Additionally, the necessary technical and logistical infrastructure must be established to enable direct communication between Ocalan and the PKK.”

The potential developments between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ocalan could have significant repercussions across the Middle East, with signs of these effects already beginning to emerge.

Both Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, sent representatives to attend Nowruz celebrations in Amed (Diyarbakir).

During their visit, they met with officials from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HDP). In turn, the HDP sent representatives to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in February to discuss the peace initiative. There, they held talks with officials from the Barzani-led KDP and the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), BafelTalabani.