1,049,328 people — 19% of Lebanon's population — have been displaced since Israeli operations began, the International Organisation for Migration reported1. More than 300,000 children are among them. Over 130,000 are sheltered across more than 600 collective sites. The International Rescue Committee reported thousands sleeping in streets.
The pace has accelerated sharply. Displacement stood at 800,000 on 11 March, reached 830,000 by 14 March, and passed one million after the IDF's 36th Armoured Division deployed to southern Lebanon alongside the 91st Galilee Division already in theatre. New evacuation orders for Tyre, Nabatieh, and surrounding villages triggered panic on the roads out, with residents reporting gunfire on evacuation routes.
Lebanon's 2006 war displaced roughly one million people over 33 days. This conflict matched that figure in eighteen. The comparison understates the strain: in 2006, Lebanon had not yet suffered the financial collapse that began in October 2019 — the World Bank called it one of the worst economic crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century — or absorbed the more than one million Syrian refugees who remain in the country. Hospitals, shelters, and municipal water systems were running beyond capacity before the first evacuation order.
The IOM's appeal for $19 million is modest against a displacement exceeding one million2. Israel's evacuation zone covers 1,470 square kilometres — 14% of Lebanese territory. A Northern Command officer indicated the ground operation could continue until late May, and two armoured divisions are committed. Lebanon's currency has lost over 95% of its value since 2019; the state has no fiscal capacity to absorb this crisis domestically, and international funding has not materialised at the required scale.
