BEIRUT: Residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs have been scrambling to make contingency plans since an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in a busy neighborhood killed a top Hezbollah commander and touched off fears of a full-scale war.
For most, that means moving in with relatives or renting homes in Christian, Druze or Sunni-majority areas of Lebanon that are generally considered safer than the Shiite-majority areas where the Hezbollah militant group has its main operations and base of support.
But for a small number, plan B is a move to neighboring Syria.
Although Syria is in its 14th year of civil war, active fighting has long been frozen in much of the country. Lebanese citizens, who can cross the border without a visa, regularly visit Damascus. And renting an apartment is significantly cheaper in Syria than in Lebanon.
Zahra Ghaddar said she and her family were shaken when they saw an apartment building reduced to rubble by the July 30 drone strike in her area, known as Dahiyeh. Along with Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, two children and three women were killed and dozens more were injured in the targeted Israeli attack.
Previously, the Lebanese capital had been largely untouched by the near-daily cross-border clashes that have displaced around 100,000 people from southern Lebanon and tens of thousands more in Israel since Oct. 8. That’s when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of its ally Hamas, which a day earlier led a deadly raid in Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Israel responded with an aerial bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians.
In recent weeks, the conflict in Lebanon appeared on the brink of spiraling out of control.
Ghaddar said her family first considered moving within Lebanon but were discouraged by social media posts blaming displaced civilians, along with Hezbollah, for the threat of all-out war. Also, surging demand prompted steep rent hikes.
“We found the rents started at $700, and that’s for a house we wouldn’t be too comfortable in,” she said. That amount is more than many Lebanese earn in a month.
So they looked across the border.
Ghaddar’s family found a four-bedroom apartment in Aleppo, a city in northwestern Syria, for $150 a month. They paid six months’ rent in advance and returned to Lebanon.
Israel periodically launches airstrikes on Syria, usually targeting Iranian-linked military sites or militants, but Bashar Assad’s government has largely stood on the sidelines of the current regional conflict.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006 that demolished much of southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs. At the time, some 180,000 Lebanese took refuge in Syria, many taking shelter in schools, mosques and empty factories. Those who could afford it rented houses. Some put down permanent roots.
Rawad Issa, then a teenager, fled to Syria with his parents. They returned to Lebanon when the war ended, but Issa’s father used some of his savings to buy a house in Syria’s Hama province, just in case.
“That way, if another war happened, we would already have a house ready,” Issa said.
The house and surrounding area were untouched by Syria’s civil war, he said. A few weeks ago, his sister and her husband went to get the house ready for the family to return, in case the situation in Lebanon deteriorated.
Issa, who works in video production, said he initially planned to rent an apartment in Lebanon if the conflict expanded, rather than joining his family in Syria.
But in “safe” areas of Beirut, “they are asking for fantastic prices,” he said. One landlord was charging $900 for a room in a shared apartment. “And outside of Beirut, it’s not much better.”
Azzam Ali, a Syrian journalist in Damascus, told The Associated Press that in the first few days after the strike in Dahiyeh, he saw an influx of Lebanese renting hotel rooms and houses in the city. A Lebanese family — friends of a friend — stayed in his house for a few days, he said.
In a Facebook post, he welcomed the Lebanese, saying they “made the old city of Damascus more beautiful.”
After the situation appeared to calm down, “some went back and some stayed here, but most of them stayed,” he said.
No agency has recorded how many people have moved from Lebanon to Syria in recent months. They are spread across the country and are not registered as refugees, making tracking the migration difficult. Anecdotal evidence suggests the numbers are small.
Of 80 people displaced from southern Lebanon living in greater Beirut — including Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinian refugees — at least 20 said they were considering taking refuge in Syria if the war in Lebanon escalated, according to interviews conducted by researchers overseen by Jasmin Lilian Diab, director of the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University.
Diab noted that the Lebanese considering this route were a niche group who had “existing networks in Syria, either business networks, family or friends.”
The threat of war has also not prompted a mass reverse migration of Syrians from Lebanon. Some 775,000 Syrians are registered with the UN Refugee Agency in Lebanon, and hundreds of thousands more are believed to be unregistered in the country.
While fighting in Syria has died down, many refugees fear that if they return they could be arrested for real or perceived ties to the opposition to Assad or forcibly conscripted to the army. If they leave Lebanon to escape war they could lose their refugee status, although some cross back and forth via smuggler routes without their movements being recorded.
Many residents of Dahiyeh breathed a sigh of relief when an intense exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah on July 25 turned out to be short-lived. But Ghaddar said she still worries the situation will deteriorate, forcing her family to flee.
“It’s necessary to have a backup plan in any case,” she said.
Some Lebanese who fear war is coming have an unusual backup plan: Moving to Syria
https://arab.news/jdh3p
Some Lebanese who fear war is coming have an unusual backup plan: Moving to Syria
- Although Syria is in its 14th year of civil war, active fighting has long been frozen in much of the country
- Renting an apartment is significantly cheaper in Syria than in Lebanon
How 1,000 days of war pushed Sudan’s health system to the brink of collapse
- After nearly three years of fighting, attacks on hospitals, mass displacement and disease outbreaks are crippling care nationwide
- As humanitarian needs soar, doctors and aid agencies warn Sudan’s health system cannot survive without peace and access
LONDON: After more than 1,000 days of war, Sudan’s health system is buckling under the combined weight of violence, displacement, disease and hunger, pushing millions of civilians toward a crisis with few historical parallels.
What began as a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has evolved into what UN agencies now describe as the world’s largest humanitarian and health emergency.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 20 million people in Sudan now require health assistance, while an estimated 33.7 million — roughly two-thirds of the population — are expected to need humanitarian aid this year.
At least 21 million people face acute food insecurity, with famine already confirmed in parts of North Darfur and South Kordofan.
“One thousand days of conflict in Sudan have driven the health system to the brink of collapse,” Dr. Shible Sahbani, WHO’s representative in Sudan, said in a statement. “Under the strain of disease, hunger and a lack of access to basic services, people face a devastating situation.”
The health system’s deterioration has been swift and severe. Since the war began in April 2023, WHO has verified 201 attacks on health care, resulting in 1,858 deaths and 490 injuries.
More than one third of health facilities nationwide — 37 percent — are now non-functional, depriving millions of people of essential and lifesaving care.
“Healthcare facilities are being attacked, there is a shortage of medicines and supplies, and a lack of financial and human resources to operate health services,” Sahbani said. “This means that the system is on the verge of collapse.”
In the hardest-hit regions, particularly Darfur and Kordofan, the picture is even bleaker.
Aid groups estimate that in some areas up to 80 percent of health facilities are no longer operational, leaving overstretched clinics struggling to cope with outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dengue and measles.
“The weather and conditions in Sudan are conducive to the spread of malaria and dengue fever by mosquitoes,” Sahbani said. “Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and polio, are also being reported in many states right now.”
Sudan is now the world’s largest displacement crisis. An estimated 13.6 million people have been forced from their homes — around 9.3 million internally displaced and a further 4.3 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Overcrowded displacement sites, poor sanitation and the collapse of routine health and water services have created ideal conditions for disease outbreaks. Cholera has now been reported in all 18 states, dengue in 14 states, and malaria in 16.
“As the relentless conflict renders some areas inaccessible, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, the population’s health needs continue to increase,” Sahbani said.
“To meet these mounting needs and prevent the crisis from spiraling out of hand, WHO and humanitarian partners require safe and unimpeded access to all areas of Sudan, and increased financial resources.”
Children are bearing the heaviest burden of Sudan’s collapse. According to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, roughly half of those expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2026 are children.
“For the children of Sudan, the world is 1,000 days late,” Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
“Since fighting erupted in April 2023, Sudan has become one of the largest and most devastating humanitarian crises in the world, pushing millions of children to the brink of survival.”
More than 5 million children have been displaced — the equivalent of 5,000 children displaced every day — often repeatedly, as violence follows families from one location to another.
“Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war, with children as young as one reported among survivors,” Beigbeder said.
Malnutrition is compounding the crisis. In North Darfur alone, nearly 85,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were treated between January and November 2025 — “equivalent to one child every six minutes.”
“The collapse of health systems, critical water shortages and the breakdown of basic services are compounding the crisis, fueling deadly disease outbreaks and placing an estimated 3.4 million children under five at risk,” Beigbeder said.
Hunger is worsening Sudan’s health crisis.
“Sudan was once considered to be the food basket of the entire region,” Sahbani said. “Today, it is facing one of the most serious food crises in the world: more than 21 million people face high levels of acute malnutrition and food insecurity.”
Children under five and pregnant or breastfeeding women are particularly vulnerable. “We estimate that nearly 800,000 children under the age of five will have suffered severe acute malnutrition in 2025,” Sahbani added.
UNICEF warns that the breakdown of maternal and child health services has turned childbirth into a life-threatening event, particularly in displacement camps where access to skilled care and surgical facilities is limited or nonexistent.
A Port Sudan-based doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, said the cumulative impact of the war had shattered the country’s health system, with facilities, staff and infrastructure systematically dismantled.
“After a thousand days of awful war, the health system in Sudan remains in a dire situation,” the doctor told Arab News.
“The health system and of course the infrastructure have seen direct attack, where 75 percent of the hospitals and health facilities sustained damage, either via direct shelling or looting of their equipment.”
The conflict has also hollowed out Sudan’s medical workforce. “Many of the health personnel and workforce had to flee, as they were targeted themselves,” the doctor said, warning that the loss of staff has sharply reduced the country’s ability to deliver even basic care.
The collapse of routine services has accelerated the spread of disease, particularly among children. “We started to see the emergence of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like diphtheria and measles — many outbreaks that we are seeing among children,” the doctor said.
Damage to water infrastructure has further compounded the crisis. “Attacks on water stations led to outbreaks like cholera and hepatitis E with high fatalities among pregnant women,” the doctor added.
Reversing the damage will require far more than short-term emergency aid, the doctor said.
“Sudan’s health system requires huge rehabilitation and rebuilding,” they said, stressing that the consequences of inaction extend well beyond Sudan’s borders. “Health is now global health — whenever there is an outbreak somewhere, there is a risk of it spreading all over.”
The doctor called for urgent international support to stabilize services and rebuild infrastructure.
“There is a need for urgent donations to fill the huge gap in life-saving health services to the people and also to rebuild the health infrastructure,” they said, adding that support must focus on areas of greatest need, “especially conflict areas as well as areas that have been freed of the RSF where now people are returning.”
As international access remains constrained and funding dwindles, much of the burden of care has fallen on Sudanese communities themselves — including diaspora-funded initiatives and volunteer-run clinics and the Emergency Response Rooms
“The conflict has exacerbated all the vulnerabilities Sudan’s health system faced before the war,” Dr. Majdi Osman, a University of Cambridge scientist and founder of Nubia Health, a diaspora-funded clinic in Wadi Halfa in Sudan’s Northern State, told Arab News.
“Decades of under-investment, especially outside of Khartoum, left the health system fragile, but the current violence has pushed it into a state of collapse.”
Supply chains have fragmented, driving up costs and limiting access to essential medicines. “Getting basic medicines has become a challenge but somehow health workers in Sudan are adapting and have been able to get medicines to communities in need,” Osman said.
“For patients with chronic diseases, the war has forced an impossible choice. Stay in a collapsing system or flee across dangerous routes to reach Egypt just to access life-saving treatment that should be a basic right.
“We are seeing families separated and lives risked on these journeys because the local medical infrastructure can no longer sustain the continuous care required for conditions like kidney disease or cancer.”
Despite the devastation, Sudan’s medical workforce has not disappeared. “Sudan does not lack medical expertise; it lacks the infrastructure and stability,” Osman said.
In Wadi Halfa, displaced doctors have arrived from Khartoum, Blue Nile and other conflict-affected regions. “At Nubia Health we are trying to provide them with the resources they need to support health in their communities,” Osman added.
Some organizations are attempting to restore fragments of the national health system. The Sudanese American Physicians Association, a leading humanitarian medical group, has sent a large delegation to Sudan to assess conditions and reopen facilities.
“Our delegation is on the ground to help reopen and restore essential hospital services disrupted by war — starting with the most critical hospitals across the health system’s resiliency, not only in Khartoum but also across the country,” Dr. Anmar Homeida, SAPA’s strategic adviser, told Arab News.
On Wednesday, SAPA announced the reopening of Bahri Teaching Hospital, one of the state’s largest referral facilities, “which represents a lifeline for children, mothers, and people with chronic and hard-to-treat conditions,” said Homeida.
“The impact we’re aiming for is simple: reduce preventable deaths, help local medical providers and humanitarian personnel deliver quality care to people in need, and support families returning home and those still displaced across the country, especially from Darfur and Kordofan, to have quality access to healthcare.
“With Sudan’s health system severely damaged and outbreaks spreading, reopening functional referral hospitals in Khartoum and supporting frontline services across other states is a practical step toward stabilizing communities and enabling recovery.”
Despite insecurity and access constraints, WHO says it continues to deliver lifesaving assistance wherever possible.
Since April 2023, the agency has delivered more than 3,300 metric tons of medicines and medical supplies worth around $40 million, including treatments for cholera, malaria, dengue and severe malnutrition.
About 24 million people have received cholera vaccinations, while more than 3.3 million have accessed care at WHO-supported hospitals, primary health facilities and mobile clinics.
More than 112,400 children with severe acute malnutrition have received treatment at WHO-supported stabilization centers.
“WHO is doing what we can, where we can, and we know we are saving lives and rebuilding the health system,” Sahbani said. “Despite the challenges, we are also working on recovery of the health system.”
Aid agencies are clear that humanitarian action alone cannot resolve Sudan’s crisis. “Humanitarian action can save lives, but it cannot replace the protection that only peace can provide,” Beigbeder said.
WHO, UNICEF and Sudanese doctors are united in their call for an end to the fighting and unimpeded humanitarian access.
“All parties must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law: protect civilians, stop attacks on infrastructure, and allow safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access across Sudan,” Beigbeder said.
For Osman, the message to donors is equally stark.
“Firstly, the international community needs to move quickly and support Sudanese, community-led efforts that are delivering care today,” he said.
“When I recently visited Sudan, I was expecting to see a global response to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. I found almost nothing.
“Secondly, the best cure for Sudan’s health crisis is peace. We can’t allow children in Sudan to go through another 1,000 days of conflict to pass otherwise we risk the health of a whole generation growing up in this pointless war.”
