A mother tells the BBC that her home in Lebanon was bombed

A mother of newborn twins who took refuge in a Lebanese displacement center said she was told to evacuate her home ahead of a planned attack by Israeli forces. “Our home was bombed and everything I had prepared for my children was gone,” she told the BBC.

Ghada is one of more than one million people displaced in Lebanon as Israel continues to intensify its attacks on the militant group Hezbollah. Now she and her children sleep in a converted university shelter in the southern city of Seaton, along with 2,000 other children.

Sidon is the third largest city in Lebanon and is known as the gateway to the south of the country. It bears a large share of the displacement caused by the war. Many of the families arriving there come from areas of Lebanon where Hezbollah enjoys strong support.

In March, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said A buffer zone will be established in southern Lebanon Israel will maintain security control over large swaths of territory. He also said that all houses in Lebanese villages close to the Israeli border would be demolished.

Hezbollah fires rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the Iran war. Israel has responded by sending ground troops to Lebanon and launching attacks across the country, while Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into Israel. This comes after Israel carried out almost daily strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon and accused the group of trying to restore its military capabilities, despite a 2024 ceasefire agreement.