UNRWA Situation Report #12 on the Lebanon Emergency Response: All information from 31 October - 6 November 2024, valid as of 6 November 2024 at 1:00 PM

Key Points

• UNRWA activated its Emergency Response in Lebanon on 24 September. The Agency is currently operating 11 emergency shelters across the country.
• As of 6 November 2024, a total of 3,530 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are registered in UNRWA shelters.
• UNRWA is working with a range of partner organisations (community based, local NGOs and international NGOs) in all its emergency shelters to provide a full range of services, including hot meals and psychosocial support activities. In its emergency response, UNRWA has relied on the dedication and commitment of partners on the ground.
• No incidents on UNRWA facilities were reported between 31 October and 6 November 2024. No casualties among UNRWA staff have been reported during the reporting period.

Overall Situation

• On 24 October, an International Conference in Support of Lebanon’s People and Sovereignty was held in Paris, to discuss the urgent need for increased contributions to UNRWA. An amount of US$800 million in humanitarian aid pledges was announced.
• The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports a total of 872,808 IDPs[1] (52 per cent female and 48 per cent male) as of 4 November 2024. New displacements continue to be reported and recorded.
• As of 6 November, 1,015 households, representing a total of 3,530 people, are registered in UNRWA emergency shelters across the country, indicating a continued slow decrease for the sixth consecutive reporting period. UNRWA is monitoring this trend, noting that some Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have returned to their homes in the camps, while others have secured alternative housing arrangements by staying with relatives or renting.
• [1] IOM Mobility Snapshot - Round 59: Lebanon: Displacement Tracking Matrix: Mobility Snapshot – Round 59 (4 November 2024)

Humanitarian Access, Protection of Civilians

• A displacement order from the Israeli Army was issued for the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley and the surroundings on 30 October and 31 October. The perimeter of the order also included the Wavel Palestine Refugee camp where several UNRWA installations are located.
• On 31 October, the Israeli Army issued its first displacement order explicitly mentioning a Palestine refugee camp: Rashidieh (south of Tyre), along with ten other villages in southern Lebanon[2].
• No casualties among UNRWA staff have been reported during the reporting period. The UNRWA staff security team closely monitors the situation and staff movements to ensure the safety of frontline humanitarian workers.
• No incident on UNRWA facilities was reported between 31 October and 6 November 2024.
• The security situation in Tyre remains very tense, with the suspension of all services except for water and waste management in the three camps. The security situation in Tyre has made it difficult to provide health services. However, following security clearance, two missions were authorized to deliver health services in camps in the Tyre area on November 4 and 6, and a third mission is planned for 8 November. On 5 November 2024, UNRWA delivered 11 tons of flour to the Rashidiyeh Camp to bake bread that was offered at no cost to the Palestine Refugees in the Tyre area. Delivery of flour will also take place to additional five bakeries in other locations across the country and close to UNRWA points of operations.
• [2] OCHA Lebanon Flash Update #40: Escalation of hostilities in Lebanon (31 October 2024)

Partnerships

• In all areas, UNRWA coordinates with local partners to provide additional services to displaced people. At each emergency shelter, a co-support partner has been identified. These co-support partners include Nabaa, Tadamon, Taawon, Beit Atfal El-Somoud, Najdeh, Mobader, the Arab Resource Center for Popular Arts (ARCPA), the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA). UNRWA is also coordinating closely with UN Agencies and international organisations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Save the Children International (SCI), Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI), and Action Against Hunger (AAH).

Programmatic & Operational Response

• On 3 October, UNRWA launched a Flash Appeal for US$ 27.3 million to address the urgent humanitarian needs resulting from the ongoing escalation in Lebanon, in addition to the displacement from Lebanon into Syria, over the next 90 days.

Health

• As of 6 November, out of 27 UNRWA health centers, 15 are operational while 12 remain closed due to the security context. Family Health Teams are rotating inside the 11 shelters.
• On 4 November 2024, the Health Programme managed to open Burj el Chamali Clinic and conducted 350 consultations. On 6 November 2024, the Health Programme managed to open Rashadieh Health Clinic and conducted 542 consultations.
• After further security assessments in Shatila, the health center will become operational on a daily basis as of 7 November for primary health care services.
• As of 5 November, UNRWA conducted over 11,269 consultations inside the shelters to Palestine Refugees from Lebanon (PRL), Palestine Refugees from Syria (PRS), Lebanese and others. The total number of health consultations at the remaining 15 operational health centers is 95,308, specifically for PRL and PRS.
• Since the activation of the emergency, 90 emergency hospitalizations for the treatment of civilian war injuries were reported, including one staff member from UNRWA.
• Active surveillance systems are established in all health centers and medical facilities to identify early signs of infectious disease outbreaks. Water tanks undergo chlorination and are routinely monitored for waterborne diseases. Vaccination efforts take place daily, with UNRWA collaborating with UNICEF to provide six solar refrigerators for vaccine storage in newly set up centers.

Education

• With the support of 42 school counselors, UNRWA provides psychosocial support services to children, youth, and adults across and beyond all 11 shelters in Lebanon. This includes psychosocial first aid, counseling, awareness sessions on gender-based violence (GBV) and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), as well as recreational and educational activities.
• Since the onset of the armed conflict, approximately 3,500 people including more than 1,500 children have benefited from 2,366 PSS sessions and recreational activities.
• In addition, UNRWA has distributed 1,946 sets of PSS kits during the reporting period to a total of 903 individuals, including 689 children (355 girls and 334 boys).
• UNRWA's Education team is also providing remote psychosocial support (PSS) to students and their families/caregivers outside emergency shelters to foster resilience, develop coping skills, and enhance wellbeing and safety. Since the beginning of the emergency, 13 school counselors have conducted 1,048 care calls, reaching 625 adults and 945 children (487 girls and 458 boys).
• In preparation for Phase II of its Education in Emergencies (EiE) programme, UNRWA Education team has launched an emergency tracking system to monitor the locations of all UNRWA students and staff. This system aims to identify where the children are, assess the available workforce, and develop a plan for the 2024-25 academic year, adapting the modality for each school to be physical when possible, or blended or remote when necessary.
• The start of the 2024/2025 academic year, originally scheduled for 4 November, was postponed by UNRWA due to the insecurity in the country. The Education Programme is in the process of determining a new starting date. UNRWA remains dedicated to providing educational services to 38,006 students in grades 1 to 12, comprising 19,760 girls and 18,246 boys.
• UNRWA Protection team is implementing conflict prevention measures in emergency shelters following some reports of fighting between families, primarily linked to overcrowding. The importance of respecting safety regulations has been communicated to all involved.
• During this reporting period, the UNRWA Protection team has been conducting regular community engagement coaching sessions with various stakeholders, including emergency shelter managers, to strengthen active involvement of community members in emergency shelters, ensuring that IDPs' voices are heard, and their knowledge and needs are integrated into the response of all UNRWA programmes.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH)

• While UNRWA Water and Sanitation services are currently being maintained, UNRWA faces a potential risk of fuel shortage, especially in the Tyre area, where access to fuel is severely limited. Water pumping is operating at minimal levels. UNRWA is undertaking efforts to secure regular fuel deliveries to the camps in the Tyre area to enable the ongoing operation of water facilities.
• Solid waste management activities have shown improvement across all areas in recent weeks, largely due to the identification of alternative dumping sites by the UNRWA sanitation team and effective coordination with municipalities responsible for final disposal in various regions. In Ein el Hilweh, the restrictions to export solid waste from the camp as capacity to inspect the outgoing waste by Lebanese government forces as per ususal procedures is limitedare leading to an accumulation of waste within the camp.
• On average, there is a ratio of 15 IDPs per toilet in the 11 UNRWA designated shelters. UNRWA’s sanitation teams clean the sewer lines and manholes to avoid blockage and floodings. Some flooding already occurred in the past week in shelters in Saida City (Nablus and Rafidiya Schools).
• UNRWA teams are conducting maintenance and repairs across all 11 emergency shelters. Technical assessments are starting to take place by the engineering teams to prepare for additional buildings.
• Winterization efforts are underway, with preparations ongoing like clearing rooftop areas and manholes.

Food

• UNRWA has distributed flour to six bakeries covering different areas of the country to pilot the production of bread, with available donated flour, to provide bread at no cost to affected Palestinian communities.
• UNRWA is finalizing the establishment of community kitchens to prepare meals for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in emergency shelters. The kitchen at the Sibleen Training Center in Saida and the kitchens in Beqaa are ready for operation. The kitchen in Nahr el Bared, which will serve all northern shelters, is undergoing refurbishment. Hot meals are meanwhile provided by partners, such as Taawon.

Logistics

• Since the Logistics Cluster activation on 8 October 2024, nearly 180 metric tons of relief items. including hygiene kits, mattresses and other non-food items, have been dispatched through the Amman corridor to Beirut, supporting UNICEF, UNRWA, and UNHCR warehouses as key transition hubs to reach affected populations [3].
• Eleven tons of flour were dispatched to Rashidieh camp.
• Two trucks of medicines and medical consumables arrived in Lebanon via the Amman corridor.
• The requested kitchen items to start operating the Siblin shelter kitchen for cooking for hundreds, potentially thousands of displaced, have arrived at the location.
• [3] WFP Lebanon Emergency Response: External Situation Report 6 (31 October 2024)