Nearly 800,000 People Flee Homes in Lebanon as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
In just one week of war in Lebanon, nearly 800,000 people — including around 200,000 children — have been forced from their homes, tracking toward Mercy Corps’ worst-case scenario forecasted in a recent report from its Lebanon Crisis Analysis Team. At least 570 people have been killed and 1,444 injured, including 21% women and 22% children, underscoring the heavy toll on civilians.
Approximately 16% of those displaced, more than 122,600, are currently staying in 580 collective shelters, while many others are sleeping in cars or temporary spaces due to limited safe accommodation. The escalation is also taking a heavy toll on education in Lebanon. An estimated 181,000 displaced children are of school age, while nearly 104,200 students have lost access to learning as 328 schools are being used as collective shelters. Women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities are at particular risk. Areas including Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and Saida are seeing the highest numbers of people arriving in shelters.
Cold winter nights, overcrowded shelters, and limited access to food and essential supplies are creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, compounded by rising prices, inflation, and potential supply disruptions amid the ongoing economic collapse. Lebanon’s fragile supply chains are under growing strain, with supplier syndicates estimating only six months of medicine stocks, four months of food supplies, two months of wheat, and barely two weeks of fuel if imports were to stop. At the same time, prices are rising sharply: during the first week alone, bread prices increased by 7.7%, car fuel by 4.6%, and heating and cooking fuel—essential for displaced families during winter—by more than 13%, pushing basic goods further out of reach for many families.
Elie Yaacoub, Lebanon Crisis Analysis Team Leader at Mercy Corps, says:
“Hundreds of thousands of families have been forced from their homes, some for the second or third time in the past two years, are arriving at shelters in overcrowded schools and public buildings. They arrive without food, blankets, or basic necessities. The situation is anticipated to worsen as the prolonged war in Lebanon and disruptions to regional trade place significant strain on existing supply chains and stock levels. This pressure is likely to contribute to rising prices and further economic stress, increasing the burden on households and limiting access to essential goods and services.
“With displacement rising and needs growing by the day, urgent funding is essential to enable humanitarian organizations like Mercy Corps to scale up their response. Immediate support is needed to help displaced families access shelter, food, and other basic necessities.”
Laila, a Mercy Corps team member in Lebanon, says:
“We fled our home in the south again. It is the second time in two years my family has been displaced. Now we are staying in a hotel because rents are soaring and there is nowhere we can afford to live. The security situation remains fragile, prices keep rising, and my children’s school has been interrupted again. The stress of not knowing what comes next is something many families like mine are living with every day.”
From the first days of the escalation, Mercy Corps has been delivering hot meals, ready-to-eat food parcels, mattresses, blankets, and other essential relief items to displaced families in Baalbek, the Bekaa Valley, Beirut, and Mount Lebanon.
Mercy Corps has been working in Lebanon since 1993, to promote peace, stability, and growth by addressing root causes of conflict and poverty.
For more information, please contact:
Milena Murr, Senior Manager, Middle East Media & Communications at mmurr@mercycorps.org
Kyle DeGraw, Director of Media and Communications for Europe at kdegraw@mercycorps.org
Our full media team is reachable at allmediarelations@mercycorps.org.