HERMEL, Lebanon (AP) — Thousands of Shiite Muslims who fled Syria after former President Bashar Assad's government was toppled in an offensive by Sunni rebels in December 2024 have found a new home in Lebanon.
Many of them stayed in mosques, schools or with relatives in Lebanon until the Imam Ali Housing Compound — funded by Lebanon's Shiite militant Hezbollah group and Shiite religious institutions in Iraq and Iran — was opened in late 2025. The camp, in the northeastern Lebanese town of Hermel, has nearly 230 housing units and is now home to both displaced Syrians and Lebanese.
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A Syrian Shiite woman, hangs her laundry at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite woman walks next of portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, foreground, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Kassem, centre, and the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, background, at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite man fixes the roof of his housing unit at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite boys play at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite man reads the holy book of Quran in front of portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, and the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite boys walk at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Maha al-Abbir, 47, a Syrian Shiite woman, works at her shop at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite boy, plays with a ball in front of a portrait of the late top Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite cleric man, front, leads the noon prayer at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite girls gather at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. The Arabic words right, read:"The Imam Ali Housing Compound, families of the honorable martyrs." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Souria al-Hassan, 75, a Syrian Shiite woman, looks out from the window of her housing unit next to a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
A Syrian Shiite woman, hangs her laundry at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite woman walks next of portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, foreground, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Kassem, centre, and the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, background, at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite man fixes the roof of his housing unit at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite boys play at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite man reads the holy book of Quran in front of portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, and the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite boys walk at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Maha al-Abbir, 47, a Syrian Shiite woman, works at her shop at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite boy, plays with a ball in front of a portrait of the late top Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian Shiite cleric man, front, leads the noon prayer at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian Shiite girls gather at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. The Arabic words right, read:"The Imam Ali Housing Compound, families of the honorable martyrs." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Souria al-Hassan, 75, a Syrian Shiite woman, looks out from the window of her housing unit next to a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Ali Housing Compound, where hundreds of mostly Lebanese and Syrian Shiite Muslims displaced from Syria reside, in Hermel, northeast Lebanon, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
