Too poor to be displaced: Lebanese families stuck in the middle of Hezbollah-Israeli fighting

Lebanon's dire financial crisis has left some families unable to flee the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the border, exposing them to danger as shelling continues to fall around them.

The UN has estimated that around 19,000 Lebanese have been displaced by fighting on the border, with almost a third seeking shelter in the nearby southern city of Sour.

The displacement crisis has been exacerbated by Lebanon's four-year-long financial crisis, with most families having little to no savings to secure new accommodations and belongings.

"I want to take my child to [the southern city of] Sour, but I have to find a car that will take me there first," Samer Sweid, a resident of the border town of Dahayrah, told The New Arab.

Sweid's son Yazan was born just three days before Hezbollah shot rockets at Israel – the 22-day-old infant lived his first weeks under the constant sound of shelling.

Dahayrah has been the Lebanese town perhaps hardest hit by Israeli shelling, with the unconfirmed use of white phosphorus bombs on 16 October virtually de-populating the town of 2,000.

White phosphorus produces thick plumes of smoke that can cause respiratory issues and can cause fatal burns if it comes in contact with the skin. The use of the munition in populated areas is forbidden under international law.

"If they dropped phosphorus on us again, Yazan might choke from the smoke. We adults are able to handle the smoke, but he's just a baby," Sweid said.

'Where would we go?'

Just 25 residents remain in the town, unable to flee for fear of their livestock dying if they leave.

The town has been virtually cut off from the surrounding area, with storefronts closed and delivery trucks not daring to make the trip to the border.

The residents are able to subsist off the crops they grow – wheat, freekah, and lentils – but are running out of essential goods like bread, tea and tinned foods.

"I didn't want to stay, but my husband thought this would all end – but they have kept shelling. We only have two boxes of infant milk left," Sweid said.

Nader Abu Sari, a farmer in Daheyrah, has taken it upon himself to feed not only his own livestock but also those of his neighbours who could not take their animals with them.

He makes daily rounds around the village, milking cows, spreading feed for the chickens and goats, feeding them at his own expense until their owners return.

There is no indication when their owners will come back, as the current tit-for-tat fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has the potential to stretch on for weeks if not months.

Israeli shelling has thus far only hit the areas adjacent to their house, but the remaining residents have had some close calls.

"Two days ago, we were sitting at night, and a rocket fell in the valley next to us. The whole house filled with smoke, and the children were very scared," Bassam, a resident still living in Dahayrah, told TNA.

Bassam himself had to go to the hospital due to smoke inhalation from a white phosphorus attack but still returned to his home, unable to afford to move farther north.

Lebanon's government has said that it is preparing an emergency plan in the event of an expanded war with Israel but has not provided specific details on its implementation.