Born in south Lebanon, displaced to Beirut, two grandmothers reflect on Israeli invasions

Born in south Lebanon, displaced to Beirut, two grandmothers reflect on Israeli invasions April 18, 20266:02 AM ET By  Lauren Frayer ,  Jawad Rizkallah ,  Claire Harbage Mariam Allawiya, 60 (left), and Kafa Wehbe, 67, sit together in a vacant apartment building in central Beirut after they were displaced from southern Lebanon by Israel's current invasion. They both grew up in southern Lebanon, and Allawiya's son married Wehbe's daughter. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR BEIRUT, Lebanon — Mariam Allawiya and Kafa Wehbe sit on a sun-drenched balcony, smoking. They both grew up amid olive groves in southern Lebanon. Allawiya's son married Wehbe's daughter. They're grandmothers now. But this is not how they expected to grow old: Squatting in a vacant building in central Beirut, displaced many times. Yet they conjure hospitality for visiting reporters, pull up a donated plastic chair, and unspool the stories of their lives — which also tell the history of southern Lebanon. "What can I say? It's all anxiety and war," Allawiya, 60, says. A building in central Beirut where families who have been displaced by Israeli attacks are staying. Over a million people in Lebanon have been displaced since early March, according to the Lebanese government. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption toggle caption Claire Harbage/NPR She and Wehbe, 67, are among the more than one million people the Lebanese government says have been displaced by Israel's current invasion, which began last month after Lebanese Hezbollah militants fired rockets into Israel. They said they were retaliating against U.S. and Israeli attacks on their benefactor, Iran, and for 15 months of Israeli attacks on Lebanon that continued after a previous ceasefire in November 2024. Sponsor Message Now, with a fresh ceasefire, both Israel and Hezbollah are warning displaced people not to return south. And Allawiya and Wehbe say they'll stay put — it's too dangerous. This isn't the f...