Lebanon Crisis: Nearly One Million Displaced as Humanitarian Emergency Unfolds

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has forced over 800,000 Lebanese people from their homes in just 10 days, creating a severe humanitarian emergency. Many displaced families are sleeping in stadiums, on streets, or in overcrowded shelters as the cash-strapped government struggles to provide adequate housing and aid.

BEIRUT (AP) — After Israeli forces issued a mass evacuation directive for Beirut’s southern districts, Fatima Nazha and her family found themselves homeless, spending two nights sleeping outdoors.

With government-operated shelters at schools completely filled and no money for hotel rooms or rental apartments, Nazha and her spouse ultimately settled into a tent at Lebanon’s largest sports venue. Their children and grandchildren managed to secure accommodation near Sidon, a coastal city in the south.

Within a mere 10-day period, the current conflict has forced more than 800,000 Lebanese citizens to abandon their residences, occurring just over 12 months after the previous confrontation displaced over one million people. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organization, this represents approximately one out of every seven residents in the small nation. Countless individuals lack proper accommodation, while Lebanon’s financially struggling government has managed to house only around 120,000 people despite efforts to establish additional shelters and increase supply deliveries.

For Nazha, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, this forced displacement has proven significantly more challenging than during the previous Israel-Hezbollah conflict that occurred more than a year earlier. The current military strikes against the Iranian-supported militant organization have been more severe and unpredictable, with Israel’s evacuation directive arriving suddenly and preventing her from collecting all personal possessions.

“Previously, the bombardments focused on particular locations, but currently they’re striking everywhere,” she explained while smoking a cigarette. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported Friday that the conflict has claimed more than 700 lives, including 103 children.

Israeli military operations against its northern neighbor intensified after Hezbollah launched multiple rockets into Israeli territory following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the conflict’s beginning.

The majority of Lebanese citizens had hoped Hezbollah would refrain from retaliating against the Iranian attack, since the militant group’s backing of Hamas, another Iran-supported organization, in 2023 resulted in Israeli military action against Hezbollah within Lebanon. Anti-Hezbollah sentiment and opposition to its supporters has grown throughout Lebanon, while existing tensions and divisions within the fractured nation continue to intensify.

Property owners have been increasing rental prices to discourage new tenants, worried about becoming targets themselves. Hotels have implemented stricter guest screening procedures since Israel attacked two hotel rooms, claiming it was pursuing Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives conducting activities in Beirut.

Those without family or friends to accommodate them, or who cannot afford apartments or hotel accommodations, have resorted to sleeping outdoors or in vehicles throughout central Beirut, choosing safety over comfort. However, this perceived security was destroyed when an overnight Israeli attack resulted in at least eight deaths and over 30 injuries in the capital’s Ramlet el-Bayda district, where numerous displaced individuals had established tent camps along the coastline or slept on mattresses along the waterfront promenade.

Relief organizations, constrained by years of insufficient funding, are finding it difficult to meet demands. They caution about an impending humanitarian disaster.

“Requirements are growing much more rapidly than our ability to address them,” stated Mathieu Luciano, who leads the International Organization for Migration in Lebanon, during a recent media briefing.

The government has converted Lebanon’s primary sports stadium into an emergency shelter, housing Nazha, her husband, and over 800 additional people who sleep in the partially enclosed walkways beneath the seating areas. The facility provides restrooms and washing stations but lacks shower facilities and has unreliable electrical service.

“Simply providing food isn’t sufficient… A can of fish or bread loaf or water jug isn’t adequate,” Nazha stated Thursday from her portable bed.

In the stadium parking area where Lebanon’s national football team typically competes during peaceful times, children engaged in an informal match while an Israeli surveillance drone circled above, identifiable by its distinctive buzzing sound. From this location, observers can witness and hear the explosions occurring daily in surrounding neighborhoods.

Naji Hammoud, who manages athletic facilities for Lebanon’s Youth and Sports Ministry, said he never anticipated assuming such significant responsibilities.

“We’re working against the clock,” Hammoud commented as relief workers and volunteers hurried to erect tents.

The previous conflict displaced over one million people, but that occurred near its conclusion after a year of limited combat that slowly intensified. This time, developments that previously required months have happened within days.

Hezbollah’s initial rocket assault followed by Israel’s immediate overnight bombardments shocked Lebanon, and the widespread evacuation announcements caught residents unprepared. Israel initially directed dozens of villages south of the Litani River to move northward. Subsequently, it advised residents to evacuate Dahiyeh, a predominantly Shiite suburban area on Beirut’s southern periphery that ranks among the country’s most densely populated regions.

Every major highway connecting the capital to southern Lebanon experienced severe traffic congestion as people rushed to locate safe accommodations.

“We traveled for two days before discovering this location that would accept us,” explained Seganish Gogamo, an Ethiopian worker who escaped from the southern city of Nabatieh and found refuge in a Beirut church sheltering migrant workers from Asia and Africa. She departed during nighttime hours following intense aerial bombardments.

The fighting shows no signs of concluding, as approximately 100,000 Israeli soldiers have gathered along the U.N.-established Blue Line separating both countries in preparation for an expected ground offensive. Many worry the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation might extend beyond the Iran conflict.

Joe Sayyah was among numerous residents who stayed in their border village, Alma al-Shaab, during the war’s initial days, hoping evacuation wouldn’t become necessary. As a Christian community, Israel has primarily targeted Shiite areas where Hezbollah maintains operations.

Sayyah and others contacted the Vatican and the United States, presenting themselves as uninvolved parties in the conflict and emphasizing the absence of military personnel or activities in their area. They also spent several days taking shelter within a church.

However, when his friend died in an Israeli drone attack while tending to his garden, they realized departure was essential. He and the remaining residents rang the church bell one final time before traveling to the capital in a convoy protected by United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Upon reaching a church in Beirut’s northern outskirts to conduct a funeral service for his friend, Sayyah said the relief of arriving somewhere secure was quickly overshadowed by the sobering understanding that this conflict might differ from the previous one.

“This time, there’s a significant chance we might never return to our village,” he said.