For the past two weeks, Lebanon faced a rapidly worsening and unpredictable security environment, in a context of wider regional escalation. Intensified aerial attacks and evacuation orders across multiple areas have driven further displacement and expanded humanitarian needs and exposed communities to sustained insecurity.
As of 12 March, UNHCR estimates that 1,524,736 individuals have returned to Syria from other countries since the political transition in Syria on 8 December 2024. The main governorate of return remains Damascus followed by Idleb, Aleppo, Rural Damascus and Homs.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Lebanon in a solidarity mission, highlighting the severity of the crisis and calling for protection of civilians and increased international support. Together with the Government of Lebanon, he launched 2026 Flash Appeal.
Geographical expansion and intensification of hostilities across Lebanon continue to deteriorate the humanitarian situation exposing growing number of people to persistent insecurity.
Since 2 March 2026, escalating airstrikes and widespread displacement have claimed 634 lives as of 11 March 2026 and forced nearly 817,000 to flee their homes.
The Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope, is gravely alarmed by reports of a strike that hit displaced people in Beirut, killing eight people and leaving dozens injured.
Hostilities intensified across multiple areas of Lebanon, further aggravating humanitarian needs and exposing large civilian populations to sustained insecurity. The impact is especially acute in locations hosting displaced families, where renewed forced displacement orders are forcing repeated movements within short periods.
Hostilities continue to directly impact nearly the entire population residing south of the Litani River, as well as parts of Baalbek Governorate, the Bekaa Valley, and large areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs. More than one million people are now affected by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, with casualty figures continuing to rise.
As of 9 March 2026, the escalation of hostilities in neighbouring Lebanon has led to significant cross-border movements into the Syrian Arab Republic (hereafter referred to as Syria), following a significant escalation in hostilities that began on 28 February 2026 across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
It has been just over a week since the new escalation in conflict started on 2 March, when Israeli evacuation warnings to residents of more than 53 villages and densely populated areas in Lebanon and intensified airstrikes forced families across Lebanon to flee within minutes. Lives have been upended on a massive scale.
At the request of the municipality of Alma Shaab in southwestern Lebanon, UNIFIL peacekeepers facilitated the movement of dozens of civilians to safety this morning.
The recent escalation of hostilities across Asia and the Middle East has led to a marked deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The affected areas already host 24.6 million forcibly displaced people, many of whom already face significant protection risks and humanitarian needs, alongside host communities.
World Vision New Zealand is calling for urgent international action as renewed conflict in Lebanon has forced more than 94,000 people, including thousands of children, from their homes.
Ten days since the first strikes in the Middle East and wider region 83 children have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Public health, and almost 300 children have been killed in the region – the equivalent to 10 classrooms full of children.
IOM Yemen DTM’s Rapid Displacement Tracking (RDT) tool collects data on estimated numbers of households forced to flee on a daily basis from their locations of origin or displacement, allowing for regular reporting of new displacements in terms of estimated numbers, geography, and needs.
116,900 IDPs remain internally displaced across 165 communities in Aleppo and Al-Hasakeh governorates. Critical infrastructure failures continue to impede basic services, with frequent electricity outages affecting water stations, hospitals and referral pathways.
