Amid the growing number of displaced people and their distribution across temporary tents, abandoned buildings, and unprepared spaces, another challenge emerges\u2014one no less dangerous than displacement itself: the health reality. The lack of clean water, the shortage of sanitation facilities, and overcrowding in temporary shelters do not only impose daily suffering on displaced populations, but also open the door to increasing risks of disease spread. In this context, simple details\u2014such as accessing a bathroom or securing drinking water\u2014become decisive factors in determining the level of health risk, within an environment that lacks even the minimum preventive conditions. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe endure just to return to the south\u201d<\/strong> Sakna, an elderly displaced woman from Ghobeiry, explains that she has been living for about forty days on the Ain El Mreisseh waterfront, where she sleeps on a piece of cardboard in the open air, without any shelter or alternative. <\/p>\n\n She explains that weather conditions make her situation even more difficult, as she is forced to move to seek shelter from the rain before returning to her spot when the weather improves. She adds that she suffers from pain in her hands and back, which has worsened due to sleeping outdoors and the absence of any healthcare. <\/p>\n\n Maryam, an elderly displaced woman from the Jamous area, recounts how she moved between several locations after the bombing\u2014from a school in Baabda to temporary tents in Biel, then to the surroundings of the Sports City, before returning again to tents. <\/p>\n\n She notes that overcrowding in shelters, where about thirty people were placed in a single room, pushed her to search for alternatives despite their difficulty. After settling in tents, daily health challenges became more evident, particularly limited access to water and bathrooms, which forced her to rely on public facilities such as mosques or some restaurants, amid severe congestion and pressure. <\/p>\n\n She adds that during the month of Ramadan, she was forced to reduce her water intake for long hours to avoid needing to use the bathroom, noting that they sometimes do not eat or drink enough for this reason, which directly affects their health and endurance. <\/p>\n\n She also relied on limited facilities for bathing and washing clothes, in conditions marked by cold weather and poor ventilation. The struggle is not limited to water, as she also points to issues with the quality of food provided, which led her to purchase a small stove to prepare her own meals due to concerns about food safety. <\/p>\n\n Dr. Youssef Shibli, a public health specialist, warns that densely populated living conditions resulting from displacement, combined with harsh living conditions and lack of personal and public hygiene, create a fertile environment for the spread of diseases. <\/p>\n\n He explains that the absence of basic environmental conditions, from clean water to adequate sanitation facilities, directly impacts public health. He notes that not bathing for extended periods may lead to skin diseases such as scabies, which can become contagious if left untreated. <\/p>\n\n He adds that lack of hygiene, particularly not washing hands, increases the risk of intestinal infections, while contaminated drinking water represents an additional factor contributing to the spread of digestive diseases, as well as skin and urinary infections. <\/p>\n\n In light of these conditions, Shibli stresses the necessity of intensifying medical visits to displacement areas in order to ensure early detection, raise awareness, and limit the worsening of health conditions. <\/p>\n\n Disparities in conditions and increasing pressure<\/strong> He emphasizes that the continuation of displacement without comprehensive solutions increases pressure on host areas and makes managing the situation more difficult, especially given the need for greater coordination between official authorities and organizations. In this context, no response was received from the Beirut Municipality regarding a statement on the situation or whether there are any relief measures for displaced people living in tents. Amid the growing number of displaced people and their distribution across temporary tents, abandoned buildings, and unprepared spaces, another challenge emerges\u2014one no less dangerous than displacement itself: the health reality. The lack of clean water, the shortage of sanitation facilities, and overcrowding in temporary shelters do not only impose daily suffering on displaced populations, but also open the door to increasing risks of disease spread. In this context, simple details\u2014such as accessing a bathroom or securing drinking water\u2014become decisive factors in determining the level of health risk, within an environment that lacks even the minimum preventive conditions. \u201cWe endure just to return to the south\u201dAli Naanaa, a twelve-year-old child from the southern town of Tayr Debba, recounts the details of his displacement with his family to an abandoned hotel in Ain El Mreisseh, where they live in harsh conditions lacking electricity and basic services. Ali describes his daily life as full of challenges, where even the simplest needs are no longer available. Even using a bathroom has become difficult, as he is forced to go to nearby places. \u201cWe go to McDonald\u2019s to use the bathroom, and sometimes they don\u2019t let us,\u201d he says, reflecting the scale of daily hardship. He adds that nighttime brings additional difficulty, as he sleeps on a simple mattress and sometimes avoids drinking water out of fear of needing to use the bathroom when places are closed. \u201cAt night, we don\u2019t drink water so we don\u2019t need to go to the bathroom,\u201d he says. Despite everything, hope remains present in his words, as he summarizes all he is going through in one wish: \u201cWhat matters is that we return to the south\u2026 I miss the south very much.\u201d \u201cWe go to McDonald\u2019s to use the bathroom, and sometimes they don\u2019t let us\u201d Sakna, an elderly displaced woman from Ghobeiry, explains that she has been living for about forty days on the Ain El Mreisseh waterfront, where she sleeps on a piece of cardboard in the open air, without any shelter or alternative. She explains that weather conditions make her situation even more difficult, as she is forced to move to seek shelter from the rain before returning to her spot when the weather improves. She adds that she suffers from pain in her hands and back, which has worsened due to sleeping outdoors and the absence of any healthcare. Limited water and increasing health risks Maryam, an elderly displaced woman from the Jamous area, recounts how she moved between several locations after the bombing\u2014from a school in Baabda to temporary tents in Biel, then to the surroundings of the Sports City, before returning again to tents. She notes that overcrowding in shelters, where about thirty people were placed in a single room, pushed her to search for alternatives despite their difficulty. After settling in tents, daily health challenges became more evident, particularly limited access to water and bathrooms, which forced her to rely on public facilities such as mosques or some restaurants, amid severe congestion and pressure. She adds that during the month of Ramadan, she was forced to reduce her water intake for long hours to avoid needing to use the bathroom, noting that they sometimes do not eat or drink enough for this reason, which directly affects their health and endurance. She also relied on limited facilities for bathing and washing clothes, in conditions marked by cold weather and poor ventilation. The struggle is not limited to water, as she also points to issues with the quality of food provided, which led her to purchase a small stove to prepare her own meals due to concerns about food safety. A fertile environment for disease transmission Dr. Youssef Shibli, a public health specialist, warns that densely populated living conditions resulting from displacement, combined with harsh living conditions and lack of personal and public hygiene, create a fertile environment for the spread of diseases. He explains that the absence of basic environmental conditions, from clean water to adequate sanitation facilities, directly impacts public health. He notes that not bathing for extended periods may lead to skin diseases such as scabies, which can become contagious if left untreated. He adds that lack of hygiene, particularly not washing hands, increases the risk of intestinal infections, while contaminated drinking water represents an additional factor contributing to the spread of digestive diseases, as well as skin and urinary infections. In light of these conditions, Shibli stresses the necessity of intensifying medical visits to displacement areas in order to ensure early detection, raise awareness, and limit the worsening of health conditions. Disparities in conditions and increasing pressure On the other hand, a source close to the Ministry of Social Affairs reveals additional complexities surrounding the displacement file, noting that some families refuse to move to official shelters despite the availability of basic services. This is due to overcrowding, lack of privacy, and social and psychological factors that lead some displaced individuals to prefer staying in tents. In contrast, data issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs indicates that some displaced individuals prefer not to move to shelters despite their availability, choosing instead to remain close to their original residential areas. The source highlights disparities in the conditions of displaced populations, as circumstances differ between Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian families, given the limited options available to some groups, further complicating the situation. He emphasizes that the continuation of displacement without comprehensive solutions increases pressure on host areas and makes managing the situation more difficult, especially given the need for greater coordination between official authorities and organizations. In this context, no response was received from the Beirut Municipality regarding a statement on the situation or whether there are any relief measures for displaced people living in tents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":16344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[416],"tags":[452,347,343,357,376],"class_list":["post-16348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human","tag-displacement","tag-lebanon-en","tag-mental_health","tag-war-en","tag-youth-en-2"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54.jpg",2048,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54-300x132.jpg",300,132,true],"large":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54-1024x450.jpg",1024,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54-1536x675.jpg",1536,675,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/21-54.jpg",2048,900,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"\u0632\u064a\u0646\u0628 \u0646\u0645\u0631","author_link":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/author\/zeinab-nemer\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Human<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Amid the growing number of displaced people and their distribution across temporary tents, abandoned buildings, and unprepared spaces, another challenge emerges\u2014one no less dangerous than displacement itself: the health reality. The lack of clean water, the shortage of sanitation facilities, and overcrowding in temporary shelters do not only impose daily suffering on displaced populations, but…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16349,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16348\/revisions\/16349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silatwassel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cWe go to McDonald\u2019s to use the bathroom, and sometimes they don\u2019t let us\u201d <\/em><\/pre>\n\n
Limited water and increasing health risks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
A fertile environment for disease transmission<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n