New waves of displacement impact Lebanon

November 4, 2026

Emily Klooster

Our goals:

As the south Lebanese flee Israel’s military and Syrian Christians flee a post-Assad regime, Warm Heart continues to meet urgent needs wherever they pop up.

Helping people start anew is all in a day’s work for Warm Heart Lebanon. First, it was Syrians fleeing the Assad regime, many of whom returned to Syria once Assad fell from power. Now, as Israeli attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon continue and a post-Assad ruler targets Christians in Syria, Warm Heart is scrambling to meet the needs of two new waves of refugees: internally displaced Lebanese from the south and a second wave of Syrians, this time fleeing religious persecution.

The Lebanese flow continues after air strikes from Israel into Lebanon escalate, with a strike in September killing more Lebanese, including children, to the south. The Israeli military reports this latest offensive was in retaliation for two Hezbollah drone attacks targeting Israeli troops. Lebanon and Israel now face a stalemate, with Hezbollah refusing to give up its weapons in the north, and Israel declaring they will not withdraw from Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.

“Every day villages are destroyed to the ground [in the south],” said Pastor Joseph Milan, co-founder of Warm Heart. “Dozens are dying each time. We can see it happening from the seashore.”

Lebanese Muslims are losing faith in Hezbollah

Muslim Lebanese from the south now displaced to Beirut are realizing that Hezbollah does not have their best interests at heart.

“[Displaced Lebanese] are starting to revolt against their religion and their political party,” said Milan. “They are asking, ‘What’s happening? What has Hezbollah done to us? Our homes are destroyed completely.’ People who formerly supported Hezbollah are now against them.”

Syrian Christians flee persecution

Nearby in Syria, Christians and other minorities are being targeted under the leadership of Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader. A massacre by Syrian Islamic militants killed 30 and injured 54 at a church in June 2025, prompting some Syrian Christians to gradually flee the country. Al-Sharaa seized power in December 2024, about six months before the church massacre, and under his leadership, persecution of religious minorities has skyrocketed.

“Many Syrians returned to Syria after Assad,” said Milan. “We still have some Syrian families [who chose to stay], but now there are also Syrian newcomers to Lebanon who are Christians. We are helping two of these families with food, furniture, clothing, bedding, hygiene products, and electricity. They came after the massacre, and they have nothing.”

Increasing numbers served by Warm Heart Lebanon

There are 20 new Syrian individuals currently being served by Warm Heart: three families, each with five children, and several other relatives. Warm Heart is coming alongside the children with education, and nine of the 20 are currently living in the Milan household with Joseph and his wife, Lidia, after Joseph helped smuggle them across the Syrian border to safety.

Kindness feels foreign

The mothers from these families say they have never experienced help like they are now being offered, and kindness feels foreign to them. Warm Heart honors the dignity of those they serve by showing them love and respect, which TSI’s Rawan Haddad says is a different approach than what refugees experience from other aid organizations in Lebanon, many of which treat Syrians poorly.

“They dump things on the ground for them,” Haddad said. “There is no building of relationships or trust.”

Syrian students now offer skills to Lebanese kids

Meanwhile, Warm Heart School, the mobile school launched by TSI alongside the Milans in 2022, continues to thrive, and the student body now participates in serving other communities, both Syrian and Lebanese. Syrian students recently accompanied Warm Heart staff to a Christian village to demonstrate one of the school’s vocational programs to a Lebanese youth group.

This past summer, Warm Heart students were also gifted laptops, funded by TSI, that are helping them learn about technology and get their homework done efficiently.

The students know they are part of something bigger than themselves. Milan says Warm Heart views them as “princes and princesses”, sons and daughters of God, and that is how he treats them and encourages them to treat others.

Spreading joy

Once the school day is over, Milan focuses on giving kids and their families new, joyful experiences.

“They feel they are accepted here, and that they are being shown God’s love,” Milan said. “The mothers and children tell me, ‘Whatever you do for us is the first time we’ve experienced it: going to a restaurant, eating sushi or hamburgers, swimming in a pool or the river. I thank God that we can do this for them.” •

Year-end 2026’s Begin Again campaign will help deliver safe schools to refugee children in Lebanon. Our goal is to raise $105,000 for refugee schools, including Warm Heart. Together, we can show children God cares for them.