Hendra Wijaya
More than half a year after the dramatic escalation of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, a severe displacement crisis has taken firm root across the country. Although the overall number of displaced individuals has fallen significantly from its April peak of over 1.2 million, roughly 330,000 Lebanese citizens remain displaced from their homes, according to assessments by the International Organization for Migration. Humanitarian organizations caution that the apparent reduction in displaced populations should not be viewed as a signal that stability or a definitive resolution has been achieved.
Officials from the United Nations Refugee Agency emphasize that movement among affected populations remains exceptionally fluid and easily reversible. Nadine Mazloum, representing UNHCR, warned that the prevailing conditions across southern Lebanon continue to threaten returnees with the immediate prospect of renewed strikes. The volatile security environment means that thousands of families who attempt to journey back to their communities frequently find themselves forced to flee once again when hostilities flare up.
The cross-border confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah has continued with varying intensity since October 2023. A major escalation occurred on March 2, 2026, when Hezbollah launched operations against Israeli targets following more than a year of restraint. The group cited over 10,000 documented violations of a 2024 ceasefire agreement by Israel, as well as the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two days earlier at the onset of a wider conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
In response, the Israeli military dramatically expanded its air campaign across Lebanon and initiated its second ground invasion of the country's southern territory in less than two years. Israeli forces currently occupy more than 50 Lebanese villages along the frontier. The destructive offensive has claimed more than 4,380 lives and driven hundreds of thousands of civilians from southern towns, the eastern Bekaa Valley, and parts of Beirut, including the capital's southern suburbs.
As the conflict intensified, hundreds of thousands of displaced families sought refuge wherever safety could be found. Many set up temporary shelters and tents along the Beirut corniche and coastal areas, while others secured rented apartments in neighborhoods deemed less vulnerable to airstrikes. Even in areas considered safer, civilian populations faced mortal peril, including fatal incidents such as double-tap strikes along the Beirut seafront that killed eight people.
Diplomatic initiatives, including a series of truce announcements and a US-brokered framework agreement reached in June following direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese representatives, have provided only partial relief. While the agreement led to a noticeable decline in bombardments across central and northern areas of the country—allowing more than 810,000 people to travel back toward their home districts—Israeli air raids and military operations have persisted throughout the southern border zone.
Those returning south often encounter flattened neighborhoods, unexploded ordnance, and collapsed basic utility networks. In the frontier town of Froun, located within the Israeli-designated "Yellow Line" military zone that stretches roughly 10 kilometers north of the border, widespread destruction has left residential areas uninhabitable. Although the June framework envisioned Israeli withdrawals from designated pilot zones and the subsequent deployment of the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah, extensive damage has left returning residents with few living options.
Among those who returned to Froun is Soujoud Ramadan, who found her family home entirely reduced to rubble. With no standing residence remaining, she now lives inside the local public school, which has been converted into an emergency shelter. Operating a modest convenience stall at the facility's entrance, Ramadan explained that local residents returned because the land belongs to them and giving it up is entirely out of the question, despite the town’s surrounding destruction.
Humanitarian monitors point out that such returns do not equate to sustainable living conditions. According to Mazloum, the inability of families to settle permanently turns displacement into an ongoing, exhausting cycle rather than a single transitional event. Households regularly shuttle between secondary shelters and their ruined hometowns depending on shifting military activity, stretching their physical and psychological resilience to the limit.
The protracted duration of the crisis has also triggered deep socioeconomic distress among displaced populations. Mazloum highlighted that families are now grappling with depleted personal savings, mounting private debt, and severely disrupted livelihoods. With support networks increasingly overburdened, households that have shouldered months of rental expenses in host communities face severe financial exhaustion as their traditional sources of income remain cut off.
Data from the International Organization for Migration indicates that roughly 80 percent of the remaining displaced population is concentrated across five main administrative districts. Beirut currently accommodates 31 percent of these displaced individuals, followed by Sidon at 15 percent, Tyre at 14 percent, Chouf at 11 percent, and Aley at 9 percent. Approximately 75 percent of the displaced population currently resides in rented housing, placing heavy monthly obligations on impoverished families.
At the same time, at least 17,566 registered displaced individuals are sheltering across 184 designated collective centers. Aid workers anticipate these numbers will increase due to recent intensifications of Israeli attacks on major southern hubs, including the heavily damaged city of Nabatieh. The escalation in these urban centers continues to drive fresh waves of residents into temporary accommodations elsewhere in the country.
Local observers in Nabatieh describe severe damage to commercial infrastructure that had only recently begun to recover from earlier rounds of conflict. Journalist Kamel Jaber reported that hundreds of warehouses, commercial shops, and essential municipal structures have been destroyed in the latest bombardments. While local economic life had partially resumed following the 2024 truce, the renewed military campaign has shattered infrastructure and fostered growing despair among residents who see no clear timeline for peace.
The long-term prospects for repopulating the border areas remain bleak as Israeli forces carry out continuous controlled demolitions throughout occupied southern villages. Explosions and plumes of dust have become routine across frontier communities along the Yellow Line, with local witnesses reporting systematic detonations every few minutes. These persistent demolitions have flattened extensive portions of border villages, threatening to transform temporary displacement into a permanent reality for south Lebanon's residents.
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