Humanitarian crisis at its peak in Lebanon: More than 1 lakh people rendered homeless in 24 hours, total displaced crosses 6.67 lakh

Beirut/Zinewah Due to Israel’s continuously increasing attacks on Lebanon, more than one lakh people have been forced to leave their homes and move to safer places in the last 24 hours. This indicates a serious human tragedy. Carolina Lindholm Billing, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon, told journalists in Geneva that so far a total of more than 667,000 displaced people have been registered on the Lebanese government’s online portal. Expressing concern, he said, “The number of registered displaced people has increased by one lakh in just one day, which is very scary.”

The UN representative warned that the current pace of displacement is much faster than the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024. Fearing Israeli bombing, people from southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut are fleeing north in search of safer places. Due to the huge number of displaced people, there has been immense pressure on relief camps and shelter sites.

The Lebanese government and international aid agencies are struggling to provide food, medicine and clean water. Humanitarian organizations have appealed for an immediate ceasefire so that necessary assistance can be provided to the displaced people. The United Nations has also informed that Syrian refugees living in Lebanon are now forced to return to their country. Since March 2, more than 80,000 Syrian citizens have crossed the Lebanese border into Syria to escape Israeli attacks. According to the United Nations, the displacement situation is so emergency that many families hastily left Lebanon without taking their belongings.