Lebanese displaced by war turn to satellites to check their homes

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese residents remain displaced from over 100 villages in southern Lebanon after Israel intensified military operations against Hezbollah in March 2026, and with Israel barring re-entry to the area, many are turning to commercial satellite imagery to find out whether their homes are still standing. The practice underscores the human toll of the ongoing conflict, as families—many from diaspora communities in the US, Canada and Australia—are left to piece together the fate of their properties from afar, often at significant financial and emotional cost.

Satellite images cost at least $112 each, and in the village of Yaroun alone roughly 180 of about 200 houses have reportedly been destroyed, with some individual properties valued between $470,000 and over $10 million. Israel says its strikes and demolitions target Hezbollah infrastructure, though residents dispute this, with one questioning the lack of evidence that their homes were used militarily. The crisis follows a November 2024 ceasefire and Israel's earlier 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, and comes as the US continues to provide Israel with an average of $3.8 billion in annual military aid; some satellite providers have also stopped supplying Lebanese imagery after US government requests in April.