Portraits of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Hezbollah leaders Naïm Kassem and Hassan Nasrallah, on January 8, 2026, at the Imam Ali camp in Hermel. Photo Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour
In the heart of a rocky field owned by the Hermel municipality, a camp unlike any that appeared during the Syrian Civil War has taken shape. There are no white tents bearing the UNHCR logo, the United Nations refugee agency, but a small, permanent settlement: concrete walls, a fence, a guard at the entrance and a row of tiny shops — a bazaar where everything sells for a dollar, a rotisserie, the Emm Jaafar fruit stand and a barber.Called Imam Ali, this complex is far from a makeshift emergency shelter. Opened on Dec. 11, it features 228 housing units, each 80 square meters, built with concrete and bricks, topped with tin roofs and equipped with glazed windows, electricity and running water. It is a sturdy enclave standing alone in the middle of nowhere How it started... Nearly 13,000 Syrians fled massacres to Lebanon The entrance to...
In the heart of a rocky field owned by the Hermel municipality, a camp unlike any that appeared during the Syrian Civil War has taken shape. There are no white tents bearing the UNHCR logo, the United Nations refugee agency, but a small, permanent settlement: concrete walls, a fence, a guard at the entrance and a row of tiny shops — a bazaar where everything sells for a dollar, a rotisserie, the Emm Jaafar fruit stand and a barber.Called Imam Ali, this complex is far from a makeshift emergency shelter. Opened on Dec. 11, it features 228 housing units, each 80 square meters, built with concrete and bricks, topped with tin roofs and equipped with glazed windows, electricity and running water. It is a sturdy enclave standing alone in the middle of nowhere How it started... Nearly 13,000 Syrians fled massacres to Lebanon The entrance...