Lebanon: Uncertainty under bombs and evacuation orders

These mass displacements are deepening people’s vulnerabilities, including those of people who have not been able to return home since previous displacements. Ghina, a young person who fled from Odaisseh on Lebanon’s southern border, is one of the thousands who remain internally displaced since 2023. She now lives with her family in a shelter, known as the Montana shelter by its residents, in a town called Marwaniyeh located near Saida, Lebanon’s third-largest city. 

“We were among the first people who forcibly evacuated our villages [in 2023],” says Ghina, standing outside the shelter. “I have been living in this shelter for almost three years. I lived with my family of five in one room, now an influx of people arrived, and, in some rooms, there are up to 30 people living together.”

Montana shelter used to be a hotel some years ago. Today, it is home to more than 120 displaced families, many of whom have been living here since villages in the south were forcibly evacuated nearly three years ago. But with the latest evacuation orders, many more people have arrived in recent days, overcrowding the shelter and placing further stress on the families there. 

Doctors Without borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) mobile medical units regularly visit this shelter, providing general health care to its residents. We run similar activities in several other shelters across the country, including in North, Akkar, Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, and Beirut governorates, where hundreds of thousands are seeking refuge. 

Deteriorating conditions for the displaced

In recent days, our teams have witnessed a rapid deterioration in living conditions, especially among forcibly displaced people. “People are being forced to move once again, and this is taking a toll on their physical and mental health,” says Lou Cormack, MSF country coordinator in Lebanon. 

The intensification of bombardments in densely populated areas over recent days, coupled with new blanket evacuation orders, are systemically forcing people from their villages.  

When the MSF team arrived at Montana shelter on the morning of March 12, the families there were still in shock from an Israeli airstrike less than 500 feet away the night before. While the airstrike did not cause any casualties and only minor damage to the shelter, families were frightened.

“The Israeli airstrike hit without warning and very close to our shelter,” says Ghina. “The entire shelter trembled, and the children started crying. I am tired of this situation.”

This bombardment occurred just as new blanket evacuation orders were announced by Israeli forces, spreading further north of the Litani River and toward the Zahrani River. 

“Today, this shelter in Marwaniyeh, along with at least seven additional shelters assigned by local authorities — supposedly in safe areas — are no longer safe,” says Cormack. “They fall under the new Israeli evacuation orders.” 

Israel’s expansion of the mass evacuation order to include all areas reaching the Zahrani River is targeting a densely populated area, instructing all residents to move up to 30 miles away from Lebanon’s southern border.

“We are seeing a similarity to what we saw in the past two and a half years in Gaza: broad evacuation orders, constant displacement of thousands of families, and systematic bombing on densely populated areas,” says Cormack. “After 15 months of a fragile ceasefire that failed to stop the violence in Lebanon, families are once again trapped between fleeing or facing bombs.” 

The crisis in Lebanon continues

It is estimated that around 14 percent of Lebanon’s territory is now under evacuation orders  and that the evacuated areas in Beirut’s suburbs and at the southern border constitute more than 500 square miles. People from nearly 200 villages and towns were forced to evacuate in less than two weeks.

This time though, more people have decided not to evacuate, often because shelters are full, routes are unsafe, they have no means to move again, or they simply have nowhere else to go — which likely contributes to higher civilian exposure and rising casualties. We are closely monitoring the impact of these new evacuation orders.

At the same time, families are carrying the financial and psychological toll of repeated displacement: the loss of homes and livelihoods, mounting debt, exhaustion, trauma, and a lack of access to care. This is all making it harder to cope.  

MSF activities in Lebanon

As of March 13, MSF has more than 12 mobile medical units across Lebanon, providing basic health care, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and psychosocial support. To ensure continuity of care for patients, we continue to run our activities in clinics and projects we had prior to the escalation. 

Our teams have started providing hospital and primary health care support and donating fuel, medical supplies, and food parcels for hospital staff in conflict-affected areas. We are also in touch with civil defense groups to donate first responder kits including body bags.  

We continue to be in touch with heath authorities and partners to provide additional support as needs arise.