Beirut, March 7, 2026 — After days of increased bombing and a sweeping evacuation order by Israel, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical teams in Lebanon are scaling up activities to respond to the growing humanitarian needs.
“Our teams are responding, but the needs are immense,” said Jeremy Ristord, MSF’s head of programs in Lebanon. “Tens of thousands of people are in urgent need of protection, water, basic relief items, and access to health care now. A swift mobilization of emergency and flexible funding must happen immediately to scale up the response to needs at a national level.”
The growing crisis in Lebanon is part of the wider conflict in the Middle East, which escalated on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a major military assault on Iran, including air strikes on the capital, Tehran, and other cities. Iran and Iranian-backed armed groups have responded with a wave of attacks aimed at Israel and Gulf countries, as well as US military and diplomatic targets in the region.
Across the region, the escalation in violence has brought fear to the lives of millions of people. Bombing continues across multiple cities and villages — often hitting densely populated areas — and casualties are mounting. Civilians, hospitals, health facilities, and other essential infrastructure must be protected at all times.
According to Lebanese authorities, more than 217 people have been killed since March 2, and close to 800 have been injured in strikes carried out by Israel. 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,” said Ristord. “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, health care workers, and medical facilities.”
Since March 2, 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 of conflict. 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 is running several mobile clinics to reach displaced people. Teams in Saida, Lebanon's third largest city in the south, provided more than 70 medical consultations and psychological first aid sessions in one day. On March 6, another mobile clinic began operating in Barja, in the Chouf area of Mount Lebanon—where an estimated 10,000 people are sheltering; in just a few hours, MSF teams there conducted 72 general consultations, 11 sexual and reproductive health consultations, and 13 mental health support sessions.
MSF sent a third mobile clinic to Bebnine, in Akkar, northern Lebanon, treating more than 50 displaced people from the south on its first day of activities. On March 7, MSF launched additional mobile clinics in Beirut and the Bekaa region to support internally displaced people. Teams also prepared 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 350,000 liters of water and over 7 metric tons of essential relief items like blankets and hygiene kits to thousands of displaced people, including children and the elderly. In Nabatiyeh and South governorates, MSF has had to suspend on-the-ground activities due to evacuation orders issued by Israel and the lack of security guarantees for staff. MSF teams continue to look into ways to provide 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. We continue to support primary health care centers in Tripoli, the capital of North governorate.
The scale of the crisis demands urgent and comprehensive action. At a time when the United Nations 2026 Lebanon Response Plan is only 14 percent funded and contingency stocks remain critically low, MSF calls for the immediate mobilization 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.
