After the Nakba of 1948, Palestinians were driven from their homes by the nascent IDF and they fled to Gaza (if their homes were in the south of Palestine) to Jordan (if their homes were in the West) and Lebanon (if their homes were in the North).
- Lebanon
- UNWRA
- Israel in Lebanon- and the PLO
- Sabra Shatila Massacre
- Hezbollah
- Beit Atfal Assumoud: The National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training – for Palestinians
Lebanon
Here we talk of Lebanon. After 1948, as many as 400,000 Palestinians in total, to date, registered with UNWRA, but since then, many have left or died. There are now just 173,000 Palestinians still living in Lebanon. About half of them live around Lebanon in rented accommodation; the other half live in the 14 Palestinian refugee camps. This position in Lebanon is poor and tenuous- the Maronite Christians want them gone- and Parliament has passed laws declaring that forbids them from buying land or apartments, or to get proper jobs. And so they mostly seek casual work, in construction or agriculture. Their fortunes are favoured by most Lebanese though, and most especially by Hezbollah, which the UK has banned as a “terrorist” organisation, at the behest of Israel. And so, the Israeli army attacks Hezbollah wherever and whenever it can. Hezbollah is a Shia resistance movement (whereas Hamas, with whom it has excellent relations, is Sunni). Both favour Iran as the way forward.
Some Palestinians find life in Lebanon so hard that they flee in small inflatable boats to Greece and then to Germany, where they can often get visas to stay (as Germany welcomed the Turks, the Syrians as “Gast Arbeiter” who will help boost the German economy, work in its health service for low wages, and so on. A fair number of these boats capsize in the Mediterranean, where some of the Palestinians are drowned. But some escape, managing to get as far even as the USA.
The UN has a force in the south of Lebanon, whose role is to supervise peace in the area, with Israel on one side and Hezbollah (see below) on the other. The UN has declared that UNIFIL must leave at the end of 2026 and from January 2027 there will be no force there to “keep the peace”. This change is causing great fear in the south of Lebanon, because it seems clear that Israel will advance far into Lebanon, probably even beyond the Litani River, whose main bridge they destroyed in June/July 2026 in an effort to cut off the south from the rest of Lebanon. The Lebanese soon just filled in the broken bridge with rubble, but it is clear what Israel’s plans are, with politicians such as Smotrich and Ben-Givr declaring that they will do to Lebanon what they have already done to Gaza.
Both Israel and the USA oppose any renewal of the UNIFIL mandate. There are hopes that either the French-Lebanese proposal for a “Unifil-lite” force to replace Unifil and maintain the “buffer” zone. (note Israel also attacks Unifil forces when it feels like it). An alternative coalition of France and Italy are leading talks in Paris to establish an international, non-UN training and advisory coalition. Backed by interest from over 10 EU countries, this mission would focus on training the Lebanese army to handle a Hezbollah disarmament and secure the borders independently. However, Hezbollah will not give up its weapons, as they believe that Israel would like to take Lebanon and occupy it, at least as far as Beirut. North of Beirut, the Maronite Christians maintain friendly relations with Israel…
UNWRA
Here is a map showing where the Palestinian camps are in Lebanon, who are supported and part-funded by UNWRA
Israel in Lebanon- and the PLO
Up to 1948, Britain assists Israel to drive 750,000 Palestinians into Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, where they languish to this day. They are not allowed to work, or own property. Naturally they want their homes back and they created the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to do that. Britain refuses to get involved, but continues to arm Israel. Israel decided to wipe out the PLO, so they invade Lebanon – first, they foment civil war in Lebanon by arming the Phalangists (fascist Christians) to wage war against the Muslims. Britain continues to arm Israel. After many years and thousands of death.
(There are tower blocks that were used by snipers, now derelict and covered in bullet holes)..
Israel invades Lebanon properly to wipe out the PLO in 1978 ; they install a puppet South Lebanon Army who do Israel’s dirty work. Britain continues to arm Israel. (Leonardo’s- as was Ferranti’s) at Crewe Toll are making a fortune out of selling Israel weapons to slaughter Palestinians. Eventually the PLO refuses to die, so Israel invades again in 1982. This time they come as far as Beirut (where I am, half-way up the country, on the coast, and occupy the capital. Just North are the Maronite Christians, who generally support Israel. Part of the Maronites are a very aggressive group, the Phalangists. The Phalangists don’t like the Palestinians (who have been driven into their country by the British/Zionist Jews), because, they hate immigrants fearing they will upset the delicate balance of power in Lebanon, to the Maronite Christians disadvantage.
Sabra Shatila Massacre
Britain continues to arm Israel. Israel decides to help the Phalangists to get rid of the Palestinians. So they surround a particular camp in Beirut, called the Sabra Shatila camp, of around 4,000 people.
They provided the Phalangists with weapons and – at night- set flares off all over the neighbourhood to light up the area. The Israelis made sure there is only one entrance left open. Then they sat up in buildings above to watch as about 150 Phalangists entered the camp and began shooting, raping and mashing in the heads of the Palestinians. They lined up all the Palestinian youths in the camp of 4,000 people and placed their heads on a low wall. Then they travelled all along the wall, smashing the head of every Palestinian youth with an axe. Locals report picking out bits of hair from the wall for many years afterwards. The Israelis look on with satisfaction at the massacre they have facilitated, later claiming it was nothing they could have prevented and that their army continued to be “the most moral in the world”. This year of 2026 was the 44 commemoration of the massacre and the camp survives to this day, it is shockingly poor and dirty and has a depressed air. Here are some pictures of the massacre and the centre to commemorate it:
At the entrance to the Sabra Shatila monument to the massacre of 1982 by Israel and the Falangists, the symbol of Israel- the star of David, is painted on the threshold. Everyone entering and leaving must walk on it:
Hezbollah
Hezbollah are the main force fighting Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. They are a Shi-ite body and are close to Iran. The United Kingdom (UL) listed Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organisation until May 2019 when the entire organisation was proscribed and the US lists the entire group as such. More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah
Beit Atfal Assumoud: The National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training – for Palestinians
Beit Atfal Assumoud is a voluntary organisation, a charity, which supports the Palestinians in all their refugee camps.
Their website is at www.socialcare.com – their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/BeitAtfalAssumoud and their Instagram is at https://www.instagram.com/beit.atfal.assumoud/
Their You-tube Channel is at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs6bf3fB-ROPmQl3tiXsrMQ