A series of intense military operations, including joint strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran’s strategic targets and leadership, has triggered widespread violence across the region. Iranian missile and drone attacks have also struck multiple countries. This surge in violence has resulted in significant civilian casualties and mass displacement, with people once more caught in the crossfire of regional hostilities.
As violence continues to escalate across the region, Lebanon once again finds itself deeply affected. Renewed tensions and armed confrontations are forcing families to flee, disrupting communities, and placing the most vulnerable at even greater risk. In moments like these, the cost of conflict is borne by ordinary people—children, parents, and the elderly—whose lives are suddenly uprooted.
In this context, the call for peace is not abstract. It is urgent.
As Pope Leo XIV has affirmed, peace requires courage, dialogue, and a steadfast commitment to reconciliation. It is not simply the absence of violence, but the active choice to seek justice and protect human dignity. Lasting solutions to conflict can only be built on dialogue and mutual understanding. Without peace, cycles of displacement and suffering will continue to deepen.
IJI within the Xavier Network and the Jesuit Refugee Service Middle East & North Africa (JRS MENA), are present in Lebanon, accompanying communities who are directly affected by this instability. Because we are there, we have already begun responding to the current emergency.
JRS in Lebanon has opened the doors of our centers to host people displaced by the violence, providing safe spaces, basic assistance, and ongoing support to families in need, mainly for migrant workers. Meanwhile, we continue to monitor this evolving situation to respond to the people affected in the region.
Our commitment: Stand with those who are forced to flee and to ensure that no one faces this crisis alone.
Peace remains the only viable path forward. Until it is secured, we will continue to accompany those who suffer its absence.
How are we responding?
Our education and livelihoods programmes in Lebanon have been suspended for security reasons, while we continue to carry on with protection and mental health and psychosocial support services to assist those most in need. The impact of the ongoing conflict on mental health is significant and is likely to have lasting consequences.
JRS has reopened the doors of the Jesuit church of St. Joseph in Beirut to migrants seeking a place to stay, in times when the collective shelters are running low on space. Mattresses are piled out on the ground and offices have been turned into bedrooms to provide a temporary sanctuary to those in need.
The most urgent need remains to guarantee that internally displaced people have a safe place. Many displaced families are living in inadequate conditions: they need protection and the psychosocial support necessary to cope with yet another crisis.
Your donation enables us to respond quickly to this new crisis and protect as many people as possible as it unfolds.
Peace remains the only viable path forward. Until it is secured, we will continue to accompany those who suffer its absence.
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