A quarter of Lebanon’s territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders, a sign of the growing scale of the humanitarian crisis and the expansion of Israel’s war against Hezbollah, according to the United Nations.
“The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is worsening at an alarming rate. Israeli airstrikes have not only intensified, but have also spread to unaffected areas and increasingly targeted critical civilian infrastructure,” according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) in a situation update published on Wednesday.
“Displacement orders for more than 100 villages and urban neighborhoods across southern Lebanon continue to force people to flee,” the report said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday issued new evacuation orders for certain buildings in the Haret Hreik and Hadath areas of Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut and a Hezbollah stronghold, saying they would soon target the locations.
CNN’s teams in Beirut reported earlier that many Israeli strikes hit without warning and that Israel sends evacuation orders via text message in the middle of the night, when most people are asleep.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel escalated its war against Hezbollah, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced since fighting escalated last month, Lebanese authorities said.
The country’s health sector has been put under “enormous pressure from relentless attacks” on health facilities and staff, and its education sector faces “enormous challenges”, the OCHA report said, with most schools being converted into shelters.
