visualize the movements of populations fleeing Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Due to the recent resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have had to leave their places of life, mainly from the south to the north.

Israel is now at open war with Hezbollah and hundreds of thousands of people have been thrown onto the roads of Lebanon by the conflict. “This situation is disastrous”alarmed Othman Belbeisi, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in North Africa and the Middle East, in an interview with AFP published Friday October 11. “With this wave of displaced people, the needs are huge, he explains. What has been gathered so far is incommensurate with the needs.”

Since October 2023, IOM has recorded nearly 690,000 people displaced from their districts of origin, including 580,000 in the last month alone. In her bulletin published Thursday, she notes that the number of internally displaced people continues to increase, at a rate of 13% since October 6. According to the organization, nearly 70% of them are women and children.

The whole country is concerned. As shown in the map below produced from IOM counts, the districts most concerned are above all those bordering Israel, strongholds of Hezbollah and bombarded by the Jewish state for several weeks. As many as 222,000 residents of Tire district have left the area. The neighboring district of Bent Jbeil is the second most affected. Furthermore, further to the north-east of the country, that of Baalbek is also affected: this is an area once again hit by the Israeli army in recent weeks.

Inexorably, these displaced people are heading north. The districts which host the most (in blue on our map) are those of Beirut, Chouf and Aley, south of the capital, but also Akkar (north of Baalbek). Among these internally displaced people, more than a quarter live in reception centers, mainly schools provided by the authorities. Almost aMany have rented an apartment or room, and 47% live “with guests”according to the IOM, most often members of the extended family. The rest, homeless, sleep on the streets.

But Israeli bombings do not only cause these massive displacements within the country. More than 392,000 Lebanese and Syrians have left the country, according to IOM figures (based on those of the Lebanese authorities), the vast majority by land. The services of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) report that 258,000 people fled Lebanon to reach Syria between September 24 and October 10, 2024. “It is estimated that around 70% of them are Syrian, and 30% Lebanese”notes the organization. Since 2011 and the start of the civil war in Syria, more than 6.5 million people have fled this country, estimate the United Nations. Lebanon has hosted 1.5 million, according to Human Rights Watch.

The UNHCR, based on figures from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (Sarc), has been recording border crossings since the end of September. According to his count, the main area for refugees is located at the posts of Masnaa (Lebanon) and Jdeidet Yabous (Syria) : 193,000 people have crossed it in recent weeks. It was not far from there that the Israeli army carried out a raid on October 4, cutting the main road between the two countries. Several tens of thousands of crossings have also been recorded further north, particularly towards Homs.

Lebanese are also leaving their country towards even more distant states. Between September 27 and October 6, the High Commission for Refugees recorded around 6,500 Lebanese arriving in Iraq, either after crossing Syria by road or by plane.

Faced with this situation, the UN launched an appeal on October 1 to collect $426 million in donations to cover its operations for three months, while adding that the crisis could last longer. The IOM alone explains that it will need $32 million to help 400,000 people. The UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) announced on Friday that it had received only $51 million, or 12% of the funds requested.