How Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon created a humanitarian crisis

EXPLAINERIn the last month, 1.2 million people in Lebanon, or one-fifth of the population, have been forced to flee their homes.Displaced young boys sit at the entrance of a tent at an unofficial camp for displaced people on Beirut's waterfront area on April 2, 2026 [Joseph Eid/AFP]Published On 7 Apr 2026Israel’s latest invasion of Lebanon has forced more than 1.2 million people, including 350,000 children, to flee their homes, creating one of the world’s fastest-growing and most severe displacement crises.Since March 2, Israeli forces have launched more than 1,840 attacks on Lebanon, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), an independent monitor. Attacks have killed more than 1,497 people and injured more than 4,639, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.The Israeli army claims its forces are targeting strongholds of the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.Last week, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel-katz" class="entity-link entity-person" data-entity-id="4249" data-entity-type="person">Israel Katz said Israel plans to destroy Lebanese border towns and continue its occupation of the south of the country.An internally displaced woman hangs her laundry outside her tent at a makeshift shelter camp in the waterfront area of Beirut, Lebanon, April 4, 2026 [Wael Hamzeh/EPA]Lebanon among the world’s worst displacement crisesOne in five people in Lebanon, or 20 percent of the country’s 5.9-million population, has been displaced by Israeli attacks over the past month.Compared with other displacement crises, Lebanon’s is among the top 10 in recent years.Global displacement numbers are taken from UNHCR’s latest 2025 data, which were used to compare the rate of displacement per population. These numbers include refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers and other displaced people. Lebanon’s figures reflect the most recent available data. Numbers for all countries may shift as displacement crises continue to evolve worldwide.Where have most attacks occurred?Data from ACLED shows that between March 2 and March 27, there were more than 2,000 attacks in Lebanon. Israel carried out more than 1,840 of these – 1,486 were air or drone attacks, and 318 were shelling/artillery/missile attacks.The remainder have been carried out by Hezbollah and unidentified armed groups, mostly in the Nabatieh governorate in southern Lebanon, targeting Israeli military personnel and hardware in the region.Israel says it is targeting strongholds of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group – mostly in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, and Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.(Al Jazeera)The most heavily attacked administrative municipalities in Lebanon include: Bint Jbeil with 418 attacks by Israeli forces. Nabatieh (397). Tyre (394). Marjayoun (228). Sidon (113). These attacks have had huge consequences for local people.Many have targeted bridges and crossings in southern Lebanon, and are aimed at cutting off and isolating communities. Additionally, the Dalafa bridge, linking villages in southern Lebanon to western Bekaa, has been targeted by Israel.Israeli operations also aim to restrict access to the Bekaa region, according to Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon.“If these bridges are destroyed, it will essentially isolate the western Bekaa from the rest of Lebanon,” Hitto said. “It will make it extremely difficult for people trying to cross into the western Bekaa Valley and reach the main hub of Chtoura, to reach hospitals and other public services.”Air attacks in western Bekaa have severed key routes between villages, including the roads between Sohmor and Yohmor in the Bekaa region, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Which towns and villages has Israel depopulated?In the first week of the conflict, Israel issued displacement orders for Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa region and the full area south of the Litani River.Then, on March 12, the Israeli army expanded its forced displacement orders for residents of southern Lebanon – from the Litani River to north of the Zahrani River, about 40km (25 miles) north of the Israeli border.Towns such as Jal al-Deir and Jabal Blat in the Bint Jbeil municipality in southern Lebanon are among those facing displacement of local populations, as Israel establishes new military posts in the area. In the southern Lebanon Marjayoun district, Khiam, another stronghold of Hezbollah, strategically located and seen as a gateway to southern Lebanon, has faced intense fighting in recent weeks, forcing people to leave.According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, Israel’s sweeping evacuation orders now cover more than 1,470sq km (568sq miles), or about 14 percent of the country’s territory.For context, that scale approaches the roughly 19 percent of Ukraine currently under Russian occupation.