During the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Houssein Hamze experienced a moment that would shape his life and commitment to animal welfare. Living in the village of Zefta, southern Lebanon, Hamze awoke one night to the sound of his dog barking. Moments later, a bomb exploded near his home, with shrapnel landing where he had been sleeping. He credits the dog’s alertness with saving his life. This experience led Hamze to establish the Mashala animal shelter in Zefta, dedicated to rescuing and caring for neglected and abandoned animals in the region.
Twenty years and several conflicts later, the 57-year-old remains devoted to his mission. Mashala shelters a variety of animals, including dogs, chickens, geese, horses, and two camels named Jamoola and her calf Jamool, who were rescued from the Bekaa Valley in 2023. The shelter operates with donations and serves as a crucial refuge for animals, especially during times of war.
Most recently, during the Hezbollah-Israel conflict that started on March 2, 2024, which displaced nearly a quarter of Lebanon’s population, Hamze was among about 20 people who stayed behind in his village. While most residents fled, he chose to remain to care for the animals that others had abandoned, some tied up and left behind. Hamze provided daily food and water, traveling between villages in a battered truck marked with a “Mashala” sign, hoping to avoid being targeted by Israeli drones monitoring the area.
The conditions were perilous; on several occasions, airstrikes hit buildings near where he was working, and at one point he encountered the body of a man killed by a drone strike. Despite these dangers, Hamze prioritized the animals’ welfare over his own safety, often going to great lengths to secure supplies in a conflict zone. Around 50 dogs, some with war-related injuries like Lulu, a dog missing part of her tail, came to the shelter seeking sustenance.
Hamze’s commitment gained widespread attention during the war after videos showing him feeding dogs amid drone surveillance spread online, generating donations that helped sustain the shelter. However, as the conflict subsided following a ceasefire in June, donations began to decline, even as the need for animal rescue continues to grow with people returning to their homes. Hamze estimates receiving up to 500 calls and messages daily requesting assistance for animals in distress.
Since the ceasefire, life at Mashala has settled into routine maintenance, including repairing damaged irrigation systems and administering medical treatments to the animals. Hamze remains hopeful that one day his work will no longer be necessary. He believes compassion for animals reflects broader empathy for human life and hopes for an end to conflict that makes shelters like Mashala essential.
“If you don’t have compassion for animals, you won’t have compassion for human beings,” Hamze said, as he tended to Jamoola, the camel who saved his life two decades earlier.