Lives upended in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

This adds yet another layer to the overlapping crises in the region, including economic collapse, underfunded health care facilities, inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, and a protracted refugee situation.

Since the escalation in Lebanon began in March, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been providing emergency support to shelters, distributing essential relief items, rehabilitating poor water and sanitation systems, and delivering health care to communities with limited access to services. Our teams also support internally displaced people in shelters and public spaces across the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel governorates.

Rebuilding with little health care access

Today, many of the families returning to their homes and neighborhoods in Bekaa are finding facilities damaged by Israeli bombardment and barriers to accessing health care.

Many people are either renting what they can afford, staying in collective shelters, or returning to family homes they left years earlier. The challenges of displacement didn't end when the bombardment became less intense; now, people face the slower work of rebuilding with no income and often no health care access, in a governorate where public attention has largely moved on.

“Everything has become more difficult” 

In Kamed El Loz, West Bekaa, the landscape opens into farmland and wide valley views, but for families like Maha and her husband, Hassan, finding a place to live does not mean stability. In a rented room, Maha cares for Hassan, who cannot move independently. After the war destroyed their house and forced them out of Al Khiyam, southern Lebanon, they moved to Kamed El Loz with no income and no immediate prospect of returning home.

“Since we left our home, everything has become more difficult,” Maha said. “I must take care of my husband and manage everything on my own.”

Maha could no longer afford her necessary medications and had stopped taking them. MSF teams met her and Hassan through outreach visits and helped them access the health care they need.

In Zahle, Bekaa governorate, Khalil and Mirna faced a different challenge as they prepared to welcome a new member to the family. Before the war, the family was living in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, where they worked in agriculture. The war forced them to return to Khalil’s hometown of Zahle, where they stayed in an old family house inherited from his grandfather. The house gave them shelter but no stability. With Mirna close to giving birth, the family had no way to cover the cost.

“When you are preparing for your child to be born, you should think about the future," Khalil said. “Instead, I was worried about how we would pay for the delivery and how we would rebuild our lives. Our work is gone, and our lives are torn."

Through MSF’s partnership with Libano-Français Hospital in Zahle, our teams helped ensure Mirna could access specialized maternity care and give birth safely.

“In a context where people face multiple barriers to health care, access is not simply about having a service available,” said Loubna Marouf, MSF emergency coordinator in the Bekaa. “Partnering with an existing operational hospital allowed us to respond rapidly to those needs and provide safe access.”

Adapting the response as needs grow

For those who were displaced, those returning home, and those who stayed, the crisis continues to shape daily life through lost livelihoods, damaged homes, and pressure on essential services.

“The Lebanese population is enduring difficult living conditions due to the protracted economic crisis, exacerbated by the ongoing armed conflict and political instability,” said Amro Ibrahim, MSF’s Bekaa project coordinator. “Internally displaced people, refugees, and less privileged communities are among those most affected, often facing overcrowded living conditions, limited access to health care, and growing difficulties affording food and shelter. Civilians must be protected, and safe, timely access to humanitarian assistance and health care must be ensured for everyone in need.”

MSF has maintained a long-term medical presence in the Bekaa region, adapting its response as needs change. In Baalbek-Hermel, MSF operates an essential health care center and a mobile clinic; across the valley, our mobile teams continue to reach communities where access to health care is limited.

Since the escalation of Israeli bombardment on March 2, MSF has also supported people displaced into Bekaa, including those living in collective shelters and public spaces. Teams provided essential relief items, rehabilitated water and sanitation systems, supplied fuel and water, and delivered health care through mobile clinics.

The crisis may have moved out of the headlines, but for many in Bekaa, its effects still shape everyday life. Maintaining access to health care means continuing to reach communities where they are, supporting health facilities under pressure, and ensuring that communities can receive the care they need.

MSF’s response has therefore evolved alongside these changing needs: from emergency support for displaced people to longer-term health care activities, mobile clinics, hospital support, essential health care, and referrals for specialized treatment.

MSF’s team also supports access to emergency obstetrics care at secondary health facilities in Bekaa, strengthening hospital capacity and supporting the provision of quality, timely care to communities.