“Our teams are responding, but needs are immense. Tens of thousands are in urgent need of protection, water, basic relief items, and access to healthcare now. A swift mobilisation of emergency and flexible funding must happen immediately to scale up responding to needs at a nationwide level,” says Jeremy Ristord, MSF’s Head of Programmes in Lebanon.
According to Lebanese authorities, more than 217 people have been killed since Monday 2 March and close to 800 have been injured as a result of Israel's relentless bombing. Thousands of families have been displaced as sweeping evacuation orders covering large parts of southern Lebanon, southern Beirut and areas of the Bekaa Valley, force people to flee with nowhere safe to go, raising serious concerns about potential violations of international humanitarian law.
“This escalation comes after 15 months of a ceasefire that never brought an end to Israeli attacks. Now families are being pushed into impossible choices: flee once again or remain at home under threat. In this environment of relentless bombing of densely populated areas, we call for the protection of civilians, healthcare workers and medical facilities,” adds Ristord.
Since 2 March, MSF teams have been assessing needs and responding in several collective shelters, towns and cities across Lebanon where tens of thousands of displaced people have gathered. Many people have already been displaced multiple times during previous escalations. Shelters are overcrowded, with some people sleeping in their cars or on the streets. Others have remained in their homes despite evacuation orders or returned due to a lack of space in shelters or lack of means to rent accommodation.
Across Lebanon, MSF has deployed several mobile clinics to reach displaced people. A newly established mobile clinic in Saida, Lebanon's third city in the south, provided more than 70 consultations in one day together with psychological first aid. On 6 March, another mobile clinic was deployed in Barja, in the Chouf area of Mount Lebanon—where an estimated 10,000 people are sheltering—and, in just a few hours, delivered 72 general consultations, 11 sexual and reproductive health consultations, and 13 mental health support sessions. MSF deployed a third mobile clinic in Bebnine in Akkar in northern Lebanon, treating more than 50 displaced people from the south on its first day of activities. On 7 March MSF launched additional mobile clinics in Beirut and the Bekaa region to support internally displaced people, alongside preparing mental health helplines to provide psychological support to people who are on the road or unable to reach services.
In Beirut, Bekaa and Chouf, we have already distributed 350,000L of water and over 7tonnes of essential relief items like blankets and hygiene kits to thousands of displaced people, including children and elderly. While in Nabatiyeh and South governorates, MSF has had to suspend on-ground activities due to evacuation orders issued by Israel and the lack of security guarantees for staff, MSF teams continue to look into avenues of providing support in the area, as well as running our clinics in Bourj Hammoud in Beirut and in Arsal in the governorate of Baalbek-Hermel to ensure continuity of care for patients and continues to support primary healthcare centres in Tripoli.
The scale of the crisis demands urgent and comprehensive action. At a time when the 2026 Lebanon Response Plan is only 14% funded and contingency stocks remain critically low, MSF calls for the immediate mobilisation of emergency and flexible funding to rapidly scale up assistance for displaced people and the communities hosting them.
MSF remains in contact with Lebanese authorities and other actors and is ready to increase its support as needs grow.
