Palestinian refugees in Lebanon face difficult Ramadan

Economic crisis and war leave many coping with limited supplies and anxious over fate of loved ones in Gaza

The Palestinian refugee camp of Mar Elias in Beirut. EPA

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“We dubbed it the fake kabseh,” says Mariam with a smile, as she stirs a pot of aromatic vegetables in her home in Tyre, southern Lebanon. The young mother of three is busy preparing the dish for iftar.

The main ingredient of kabseh, a Middle Eastern dish made of spiced rice, is chicken.

But, here in Maachouk, an impoverished neighbourhood of Tyre which has long been home to Palestinian refugee families, residents such as Mariam have replaced chicken with flavoured cubes to mimic the taste of meat.

Mariam has also now mastered chicken Maggi-flavoured maklouba, the traditional Palestinian dish usually made with layers of roasted vegetables, meat and seasoned rice.

“Meat has become too expensive, we had to adapt traditional recipes,” she said.

“Inflation has made even basic staples too expensive for us."

But on the day The National visited, she had a special treat to offer her family alongside the "fake kabseh".

The US-based NGO Anera had provided a box of food for Ramadan, which included jellab, a traditional date syrup, much to the delight of her children. The family had not been able to afford any sweets this Ramadan until then.

Lebanon's entrenched economic crisis, labelled as one of the worst globally since 1850 by the World Bank, has plunged 80 per cent of the population into poverty, with triple-digit inflation and a shortage of basic commodities.

Against this dire economic backdrop, Mariam is one of many parents struggling to meet their children's needs. Her one-year-old, Ayana, has Down syndrome and requires special care, food and medicine, most of which the family must cover themselves.

Ramadan with a backdrop of war

Despite the struggles, the family is grateful for breaking their fast together.

“You see how difficult life is in Lebanon for us, but we say alhamdulillah when we see the horrors in Gaza and children dying under rubble,” said Ayman, the father, who has family in the Palestinian enclave.

The internet connection in Gaza is very poor, but he manages to get in touch once a week. His aunt's house was destroyed in an Israeli air strike. The family have fled several times to escape the relentless shelling.

“The international community has turned its back on Gaza. How can they stand seeing these children dying? he said.

A dozen kilometres from Mariam and Ayman's home in Tyre, a border conflict rages between Israel and Hezbollah, which opened a second front on October 8 in support of its ally Hamas.

“Ramadan is supposed to be about safety, but we don't see any safety,” Mariam said.

Despite being relatively far from the active fighting, which is loosely confined to the frontier area, the sounds of strikes and sights of black smoke on the horizon have become routine for Tyre's residents.

But attacks have edged closer to the coastal city amid a broadening of the Israeli campaign, sparking fears of major military operation in the small Mediterranean country.

Last week, an Israeli drone strike hit near Tyre for the first time, killing a Hamas member and a civilian.

“Whenever I hear the sound of shelling, I fear for my children,” Ayman said. "The house shakes when they hit close by."

The violence has killed at least 322 people in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters but also 56 civilians, according to an AFP tally. In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians were killed, the military says.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border.

New needs

About 250,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, most in 12 camps spread across the country. The first wave began with the Nakba of 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homeland during the creation of Israel.

Since then, Palestinian refugees have been living in impoverished camps on the outskirts of society, facing numerous job restrictions.

Now, with the conflict escalating at the Lebanon-Israel border, their situation has deteriorated.

“We've identified new needs among Palestinian refugees in the south,” said Mohamed Kaddoura, Anera's southern area manager.

That's why, for the first time, Anera's Ramadan distribution is focusing on the country's southern region. The NGO is delivering cash and food aid to about 1,200 families with disabled members across three Palestinian camps there.

“The border conflict has hit the labour market hard,” Mr Kaddoura said. “Many refugees worked in border villages, as farmers or in construction, but heavy shelling now renders those areas inaccessible.”

He stressed this only adds to Lebanon's mounting crisis amid a four-year financial meltdown.

“The final blow came with the announcement of funding suspension to UNRWA, which provides vital medical and educational services for Palestinians in Lebanon,” he added.

A dozen countries halted funds after Israel alleged a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attack. Some have since reversed their decision.

Mr Kaddoura also highlighted the “dramatic” psychological impact of the war on Palestinian refugees.

“Most have family in Gaza,” he said, such as Nabila Ayoub, one of Anera's beneficiaries.

Ms Ayoub said she had relatives and friends in Gaza who have been killed or lost loved ones, including children.

The 58-year-old refugee said she feels their pain deeply.

In 2006, her son, just a child at the time, lost both legs in Israeli shelling during a one-month war between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon, leaving him permanently disabled.

“I've lived through it, I know their suffering,” she said.