Last autumn Hania Zataari, a mechanical engineer who works for Lebanon’s Ministry of Industry put her skills to use as war in the country raged on. Hailing from Sidon, South Lebanon, she created a chatbot on WhatsApp that simplified access to much-needed aid.

“They lost their houses, their savings, their work, everything they had built,” Hania says, referring to those forced from their homes by war.

On 23 September, Israel dramatically escalated its offensive against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, with which it had been fighting a spiralling conflict since Hezbollah attacked Israel in October 2023.

According to the Lebanese government, at least 492 people were killed in one of Lebanon’s deadliest days of conflict in almost 20 years.

Thousands of families fled to Sidon after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hit what it said was 1,600 Hezbollah strongholds inside Lebanon.

Hania says many displaced people sought shelter in schools and other public buildings, but many others who fled their homes were forced to rent elsewhere or stay with members of their family.

It is these people who weren’t directly receiving support from the government that she wanted to help. Drawing on her programming skills, Hania created the “aidbot” to narrow the gap between the demand and supply of aid.