Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned Monday that Israeli attacks on South Lebanon are almost a daily reality, hindering people’s ability to recover and restricting their access to care.
Also, the medical humanitarian organization said Lebanon remains mired in a deep humanitarian crisis a year after Israel’s war, as ongoing cross-border attacks and ceasefire breaches prevent tens of thousands from returning home.
“One year has passed since Israel escalated its war in Lebanon, yet the humanitarian crisis is far from over,” MSF said in a report released on Monday.
Despite the ceasefire agreement in November 2024, it said Israeli forces are still occupying several points along the southern border preventing people’s return and leaving more than 82,000 displaced.
The report includes live testimonies, like Abdel Karim who said rebuilding his life remains an uphill battle.
“I came back to repair the damages to my house, but without safety and the ability to afford basic things like medicines, how can anyone really start over?” he said as his words almost drowned out by the hum of an Israeli drone overhead.
In southern Lebanon, war has devastated infrastructure, including healthcare facilities.
At the height of the escalation, eight hospitals, mostly in the southern areas, were evacuated, while 21, or around 13% of the country’s total, were damaged, drastically reduced their services or were forced to close. Another 133 primary healthcare facilities also shut their doors, and Nabatieh alone lost 40% of its hospital capacity.
MSF said today, many damaged facilities remain closed, and many need rehabilitation.
The medical humanitarian organization said it set up new activities in the hardest-hit governorates—Nabatieh, the South, and Baalbek-Hermel, while maintaining its presence and provision of services in Beirut, Bekaa and the North.
In the southern governorates, where available services remain financially out of reach for many returnees, MSF set up mobile clinics to ensure communities’ access to vital medical and mental health services. It is also rehabilitating and supporting three primary healthcare centers to restore provision of services in areas of return.
Tharwat Saraeb, a psychologist with MSF’s mobile clinic in the Nabatieh governorate, said, “Wars leave an immense toll on the communities that are directly impacted.”
“Here, not a day goes by without people re-experiencing the devastation. Drone sounds, continued occupation of lands and non-stop airstrikes all deepen the suffering of people,” she added.
Samira, a patient of MSF’s mobile clinic, said her daughter faints at the sound of any strike, even if it’s far away. “She has a child of her own, and we all tremble with fear – it affects us all deeply.”
MSF teams said they continue to witness the human cost of the escalation and the lasting impacts of a war that has not fully abated.
“Many patients live in fear and uncertainty, many unable to begin recovery. Mental health needs are also profound, as children and adults alike experience stress, anxiety and constant fear,” MSF said.
While the war devastated Lebanese families, refugees and migrants alike, the organization said Lebanon is home to more than a million Syrian refugees, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and many migrants who already live in precarious conditions.
These communities, it noted, were excluded from many relief efforts during the escalation, despite facing the same urgent needs for food, shelter and healthcare.
One year on, refugees’ and migrants’ needs are neglected. Their access to secondary healthcare through humanitarian organizations is at risk.
By the end of 2025, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration will cease covering secondary healthcare, while UNRWA and UNICEF face unprecedented funding cuts.
The severe global funding cuts for humanitarian programs leave enormous needs unmet, create new vulnerabilities and deepen existing ones.
MSF teams said they remain committed to providing services wherever they are needed, ensuring that communities are not left without access to vital healthcare.
Yet, the organization affirmed, true recovery will only be possible when people can live free from fear and can access the medical, mental health and essential services they so urgently need to start over.
