[EXCLUSIVE REPORT] In Lebanon, Hamas fills the void left by public services in Palestinian communities
Nature has a hatred of emptiness; that is the adage. The armed movement, which holds a prominent place in international news, provides services and aid to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, where it is riding a wave of popularity linked to its involvement in the fighting against Israel in Gaza.
In Saida, access to basic and social services organized by Hamas
A small neighborhood in the city of Sidon, in the south of Lebanon, also known as Saïda, is a small paradise compared to the neighboring communities.
The nearly 3,000 residents of the neighborhood, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians, have access to a wide range of services that have been unavailable in Lebanon for many months now, a country where public services have largely collapsed after years of economic crisis, but also of great political instability.
In a constant quest for popularity, thanks to its religious and political proselytism, The strange behavior merits the services rendered within this neighborhood community to the armed group and Palestinian political movement Hamas.
This is how, thanks to the denier and the logistics of the organization, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the international community, the residents have access to fresh drinking water four days a week. The streets are clean and well lit at night, access to domestic electricity is regulated and distributed to households. The young people in the neighborhood even have access to a leisure center equipped with a foosball table, boxing bags and weight training equipment that they can use at will, but above all for free.
The economic crisis and the political chaos in Lebanon isolate Palestinian refugees in the country of the cedar.
Before the crisis, the refugee community, regardless of their origins, faced systemic discrimination and numerous legal obstacles, plunging them into certain poverty. It goes without saying that Hamas’s «apparent generosity» is therefore welcomed with open arms, including by proselytizing.
The extremist movement, in a rigorous organization close to the model of developed countries, It has managed to establish a form of basic social services whose budget is unknown, both in terms of its amount and its origin.
And the political success is in sight. His unofficial networks of social protection in Gaza and the West Bank largely contributed to his electoral victory in Palestine in 2006. In Lebanon, Hamas’s popularity is currently on the rise as the group fights the Israeli army in Gaza.
« We continue to serve our people with what we have and what we can do »That's what they do," confides a local Hamas leader in Sidon, under the pseudonym of war Abu Abed Shanaa.
« We will do everything that could benefit the Palestinian people »", assures the 53-year-old man who agrees to meet me in an old parking lot in the neighborhood, which he helped turn into a mosque.
This place of worship has also quickly become a lively community center for the small community of Sidon, where prayers are regularly held, of course, but also «programs» for young people, weddings for couples who cannot afford to have a reception in a different venue.
When I meet Abou Shanaa during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the mosque is a particularly lively place. Many boys are taking an Islamic education course, which takes place in an adjacent room, while heads of families come to ask the caretaker when the Ramadan food parcels would be ready.
Hamas, like other pro-Palestinian parties in Lebanon such as Hezbollah, although Shia, also makes monetary and food donations during the Muslim holy month, although this year, according to Abou Shanaa, donations for Ramadan are reduced due to Hamas’ involvement in the fighting in Gaza.
Beyond food aid for Ramadan, the «local chef» coordinates summer camps for young people, promotes sports teams, organizes fundraisers for the sick and women who have recently given birth, and even resolves family conflicts!
« The organization » was also the architect of several community infrastructure projects that, in his view and in an unequivocal manner, all contributed to « bringing families closer » to Hamas and its line of action.
Establishing trust through informal diplomacy
In a neighborhood very close to the Palestinian community, Just a minute’s drive from the Hamas-run neighborhood, there is a Christian village. Abou Shanaa explains that the key to establishing trust regarding the group’s presence in the region has been cooperation with their Christian neighbors and the Lebanese municipality.
However, the majority of criticism and reactions regarding the presence of Palestinian armed groups on Lebanese soil have always come from the country’s Christian communities and parties.
Moreover, this was largely confirmed in a poll conducted by the Washington Institute after the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7: 79 % of the Lebanese generally expressed a positive opinion of the Palestinian movement, but among Christians, positive opinions were less important, 59 % of those surveyed.
My guide for this report moved to the neighborhood in 2000 and says that at that time, the water only flowed once every about two weeks. There was no public lighting and the roads were barely passable due to their condition.
The latter used to live in Ain al-Helweh, in Sidon, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the country. His father, too, had to flee his family village near Akka, in the north of the Palestinian territory, during the Israeli forces’ attack in 1948.
Although the figures fluctuate according to population flows and regional events, UNRWA estimates that approximately 250,000 Palestinian refugees reside in Lebanon permanently. Although many of them have been living in the Cedar Valley for more than 75 years, they still do not have access to several fundamental rights, including the right to land ownership, the right to vote, the limited social or medical assistance available in Lebanon.
For Abou Shanaa, there is no question of talking about any «conquest of territory» or «new colonization» of opportunism! Shortly after his arrival in the neighborhood, the latter explained to me that she was the «method»: in perfect collaboration with the municipality of Sidon, it was discussed to form a committee with «all religious currents and all parties,» both Lebanese and Palestinian, with the aim of developing infrastructure projects.
El began by digging wells for drinking water for this committee, at a total cost of about 5,000 dollars. Hamas, for its part, donated 2,000 dollars, according to Abou Shanaa, without specifying the country of origin. The second operation involved repairing the roads leading to the neighborhood, as well as installing public lighting and electrical networks.
« The mayor was very pleased with our work »That,« reports Abou Shanaa, without fail with a smile on his lips.« Our efforts have allowed the families, the Lebanese security forces and the municipality to appreciate us more because things were better organized.. Of course.
A few years later in 2004, the clan leader organized a project to build a sidewalk and a pedestrian zone leading to the neighborhood: again, this project was % funded 80% by Hamas and 20% % by the municipality.
Then in 2009, the committee approached a Lebanese Christian who owned an unused plot of land in the area, intending to turn it into a football field. Another success. Hamas contributed $11,000 to the project, Abou Shanna indicates.
« With the necessary space to engage in healthy activities and participate in community programs, young people have seen their rates of drug and alcohol consumption decrease. »«, Abou Shanaa clarifies. " We helped restore order; the people accepted us and respected us even more. »he sums up," he said.
Under its banner, Hamas has since coordinated a variety of projects and programs for the neighborhood. Abou Shanaa notes that there are many other communities supported by Hamas in Lebanon, similar to that of Sidon.
Growing popularity in Lebanon, peaceful coexistence, but certain interests
Although Hamas has been present in Lebanon in a more visible way since the 1990s, many had previously considered it a «marginal group» compared to major Palestinian political actors such as Fatah., says Mohanad Hage Ali, a researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Center based in Beirut.
« At first, the Lebanese branches of Hamas did not focus on the armed struggle. »«, he explains. " It was only in 2017, when Hamas reconciled with Hezbollah following a schism linked to the civil war in Syria, that the group became more militant and began to expand significantly in the country. », develops the researcher.
Following the 2019 financial crash and the «slow death of the Lebanese state» amid an economic crisis and political turmoil, Hamas saw an opportunity to expand further in Palestinian camps and launch military activities that were not possible before, analyzes Mohanad Hage Ali.
Since October 7, the military branch of Hamas and its al-Qassam brigades have carried out multiple attacks against Israel from the Lebanese soil. The armed group also operates a vast network of recruitment and training from Lebanon.
« Today, in times of war, the group’s popularity allows it to recruit at «unprecedented levels» in Lebanon, helped by relatively significant funding, probably from Iran. »That's what Hage Ali explained to me," Hage Ali explained.
Malak al-Ali, a 26-year-old woman living in the Ain al-Helweh camp, also believes that Hamas has gained popularity: « We are very proud of Hamas at the moment. I am so proud of what they are doing to fight the genocide in Gaza », she expresses.
The growing popularity of Hamas has a consequence: the significant loss of influence of Fatah, its political opponent in Lebanon.
In recent years, Fatah, whose strategy towards Israel consists primarily in engaging in negotiations rather than armed struggle, has long been weakened, partly due to the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but also more generally due to its inability to bring concrete results to the local daily life.
Hamas, meanwhile, is building its generous popularity on the ground, while its humble rival is known for distributing aid only to members of the party in Sidon.
Malak, for her part, believes that Hamas is the most honest Palestinian political faction: « Hamas helps everyone, while others steal more than they help »That," she confirms to me.
The young woman has two children, aged seven and eight, who are enrolled in the schools in the camp run by UNRWA. The latter finds that these schools are overcrowded and that the quality of the education is poor, as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, like other humanitarian organizations, often lacks the necessary funds.
« I don't see it [the humanitarian agencies] it helps a lot. They can't help everyone. »", observes Malak.
From Israeli sources, which have not yet been proven and even contradicted by the «Colonna report,» according to which several members of UNRWA staff were involved in the Hamas attack of October 7th, the agency’s main donors have withdrawn their funding, thus putting the survival of the agency, which was already in financial difficulty, in jeopardy. Since then, the organization has resumed operations without having any more resources.
In the plush corridors of the chancelleries, the analysis seemed obvious: the cessation of UNRWA services under Western control could constitute an additional opportunity for Hamas to extend its influence to new neighborhoods deserted by NGOs.
« UNRWA is supposed to provide overall aid to the Palestinians, but it has been hampered by the Zionist interests from around the world who want the Palestinian issue to be abandoned. », laments the neighborhood leader Abou Shanaa.
« Despite everything that is happening, Hamas remains strong and stands by its people. We will never abandon our people », he concludes.
Before they parted ways, Abou Shanaa showed me a valuable document: the title to the ownership of his few lands in Palestine, which he will continue to retain until his family returns. « The land belongs to us and we have a right to it. People came and stole our houses. We want our houses back, give them back to us.. This is what you have to report to the whole world, you journalists ».
On the way back to Beirut, and as I leave Saida, a curious feeling runs through me. I am very divided. And if in this country devastated by decades of conflicts—civil and military—among other disasters, I did not see the «lesser evil»—even though it was very difficult for me to gather contradictory testimonies—where discretion and the legitimate interest in an obligation of adherence are a matter of survival.
As we enter the winter and as I prepare to publish this report that was produced last spring, it goes without saying that the situation in Lebanon has sadly evolved.
A Hezbollah local and regional group is far too busy fighting
The Lebanese Shiite movement is, in turn, far more preoccupied with fueling regional tensions than with addressing the rampant poverty on its own territory. Supported in its armed actions, as much politically as terrorist, and largely financially by the Iranian regime since the 1980s, Hezbollah’s history (the «Party of God») is inextricably linked to the armed resistance against Israel, donning the guise of an uncontrollable militia in the eyes of the international community. A double discourse, a double face: in its vain attempt to be whitewashed in the eyes of the world, Hezbollah has systematically taken part in the Lebanese national elections since 1992 as a major domestic political force.
Considered a terrorist organization by Western countries, Israel, the Arab Gulf countries, and the Arab League, its sporadic attacks against Israel intensified on October 8 last, the day after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on the State of Israel.
According to the United Nations, this new war forced 1.2 million Lebanese to leave their homes, and the death toll stands at 3,670. Until now, despite the visceral tensions between the two countries, observers claimed that both sides were trying to contain hostilities without crossing the line of a full-scale war. The unprecedented episode of the «pagers» explosion will undoubtedly contradict this analysis.
The abandoned Lebanese
Given the complexity of the Lebanese political system, based on the distribution of powers among different religious communities, it is impossible for Hezbollah to govern alone in Lebanon. It is thus forced to forge multi-confessional alliances. Without political consensus between the different communities since 2022, Lebanon finds itself completely paralyzed. No one rules anymore; the state has disappeared, as has any hope for its population. Of the current puppet government, only two ministers are from Hezbollah: one responsible for Public Works and one for Culture.
It is clear that far from caring about the survival of the Lebanese population, Hezbollah even has a parallel financial network to that of the state it is supposed to be part of, operating outside the Lebanese banking system. Also, Hezbollah is the only «armed Lebanese political party» since the end of the civil war in the 1990s.
So, far from the eyes and heart of the international community? That was undoubtedly the case until this September 28 plunged Lebanon into chaos, like a sadly remade version of 2006.
On the day when Tsahal, in the deadly strikes that monopolized the attention of the entire world, finally turned its gaze to the country of the cedar, eliminated Hezbollah’s War Chief Hassan Nasrallah.
The eternal question, the old Lebanese sea serpent: Who or what will come to fill once again the cosmic void left behind by the multiple catastrophes, almost all of which were generated by man against man, of this confetti on the extremely ancient map of the shores of the Mediterranean?
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