As families across Lebanon prepare for Eid al-Fitr or the festival of breaking the fast on Friday, thousands of displaced people in the south, gripped by fear, loss and uncertainty, are facing the holiday far from their homes.
Fatima Hussein Tuma has been living in a school classroom converted into a shelter in the city of Saida, some 40 km south of Beirut, since fleeing the border town of Siddiqin when hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah renewed at the beginning of March.
Fatima, whose shared room with other families has become her new world, is trying to adjust to the reality of displacement, but this year's holiday is weighed down by anything but joy.
"We don't have an Eid atmosphere, because we know and hear what Israel is doing to our homes, our land, our children, and our people," she said.
Displaced people and those running the shelters are trying to bring joy to the children, whose happiness has been dampened by the war.
"You ask me about the holiday? Of course, the children asked why we're living in a school. We thank God for everything. The children are not to blame, and we try to create a festive atmosphere for them, so they don't feel the difference. And here, they're not neglecting them. They're handing out toys to them," said another displaced Lebanese.
As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan draws to an end, humanitarian challenges in Lebanon are intensifying, especially in the shelters near southern Lebanon, with the number of displaced people exceeding one million. They are living in a fragile state amid years of economic crisis and renewed war.
More than a million people have been uprooted across Lebanon since Israel's military campaign intensified in the south and east, forcing families from border villages into public schools, mountain towns, and tent encampments along the coast.
War mars Eid al-Fitr holiday for displaced in Lebanon
