WFP Lebanon Emergency Response: External Situation Report 9 - 21 November 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nearly two months since the onset of hostilities on 23 September 2024, WFP has significantly scaled up its emergency response, reaching almost half a million conflict-affected people with food and/or cash assistance. To date, WFP supported 303,400 conflict-affected individuals outside shelters and 190,900 displaced individuals inside shelters.
• In response to the rising needs among Syrian refugees affected by the conflict and struggling to meet basic needs, WFP scaled up its regular cash assistance to Syrian refugee households, supporting an additional 220,000 refugees in November 2024.
• With rising needs outpacing available resources, and winter conditions adding further challenges, WFP urgently requires US$ 95 million by the end of the year to sustain emergency operations. This funding is critical to support not only displaced individuals in shelters but also to expand assistance to over 1 million affected people.

SITUATION UPDATE

• Lebanon’s food insecurity is set to worsen amid ongoing hostilities, further straining infrastructure, displacing communities, and deepening the effects of the economic crisis. The disruption of commerce, tourism, hospitality, and agricultural production forced numerous small businesses to close. As per the World Bank, Lebanon’s real GDP growth for 2024 is projected to decline by 6.6 percent, further deepening an economic contraction of over 34 percent in the past five years, equivalent to losing 15 years of growth.
• Israel has intensified military operations, with 3,583 deaths, including more than 231 children, and 15,244 injuries recorded since October 2023, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Nearly 1.6 million people are affected by the conflict, out of whom 896,300 are classified as internally displaced persons (IDPs) (IOM).
• To date, 190,100 IDPs are in 1,177 shelters, of which 84 percent have reached maximum capacity. Others are staying with their families or have crossed to Syria and Iraq, while an estimated 19,000 households remain trapped in hard-to-reach areas. Many affected people, especially non-Lebanese, face significant barriers to securing shelter and urgently need adequate accommodation and essential items to stay warm and safe as winter approaches.
• Israeli strikes near Lebanon's eastern border with Syria have closed almost all official border crossings between the two countries, limiting people fleeing to Syria to one operational route, in North Lebanon. As per the Lebanese General Security, 610,900 people have crossed into Syria since 23 September (63 percent Syrians and 37 percent Lebanese). Additionally, 39,100 Lebanese arrived in Iraq according to UNHCR.

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