Stalled Middle East Peace Talks Leave Displaced Thousands Living in Lebanon’s Public Schools

Eleven-year-old Fatima Khashab spends her days helping her mother tidy the small living space her family occupies in a school gymnasium, one of hundreds of makeshift living quarters set up in a public school in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre. Her family is among roughly 200 households currently sheltering in the school, most of whom fled villages farther south that have either been destroyed in the latest war between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, or remain occupied by Israeli forces, including Fatima's hometown of Mansouri.

The situation has taken on new urgency as Lebanon's school year approaches, set to begin on September 15, even as thousands of displaced people continue to live inside public school buildings across the country with no clear timeline for when they might be able to return home. With negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, as well as separate talks between the United States and Iran, currently stalled, there is no political resolution in sight that would allow displaced families like Fatima's to return to their villages before the academic year begins.

Education officials in Lebanon say they have developed a plan to reopen schools for the upcoming academic year while simultaneously maintaining shelter space for displaced families who have nowhere else to go, an arrangement that will require balancing the needs of returning students against the ongoing humanitarian requirements of those still living in classrooms and gymnasiums. Despite these plans, anxiety among displaced families remains high, as many face continued uncertainty about both their immediate living situation and their children's access to education in the coming months.

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Randa al-Taki, Fatima's 51-year-old mother, described the deep uncertainty weighing on her family and others in similar circumstances. "We don't know if we will be able to go back to our village or if the crisis will get even worse. Nobody except for God knows what's going to happen," she said, capturing the sense of helplessness shared by many displaced families as they wait for political developments beyond their control. Al-Taki added that the disruption extends beyond housing insecurity to her children's education as well, noting, "Our children are deprived of school, and we don't know if they are going to learn this year or not."

The situation in Tyre reflects a broader humanitarian challenge unfolding across southern Lebanon, where the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has displaced large numbers of families from their home villages, many of which have sustained significant destruction or remain under Israeli military presence. As the start of the school year draws closer, Lebanese authorities face the difficult task of restoring some semblance of normalcy and educational continuity for the country's children, even as the underlying conflict driving displacement shows no clear signs of resolution, leaving families like Fatima's suspended between the routines of ordinary life and the continued disruptions of war.

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