Lebanese displaced by war turn to satellites to check their homes
Displaced residents from southern Lebanon are using commercial satellite imagery to monitor the status of their homes amid ongoing conflict. Many face challenges as satellite providers sometimes restrict access to imagery in the region due to government requests.
Why it matters
This highlights the use of civilian technology as a tool for displaced populations to track property destruction in active war zones.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The images unfold slowly on Mazen Farah's phone —satellite views of the Christian section of the southern Lebanese village of Yaroun. They are a bit fuzzy but still clear enough to see what is happening.
"This is what it shows from the satellite — it shows that it has been destroyed," says Farah, referring to the two-story stone house his father built after 25 years of working in the Gulf.
In March, amid renewed fighting with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, Israel launched airstrikes and displaced hundreds of thousands of residents in more than 100 villages.
After an April 17 ceasefire, Israel sent in bulldozers to demolish more buildings in southern Lebanon. It says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure but rarely provides details or evidence to support those claims.
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