Almost one-quarter of the entire population in Lebanon has been displayed as Israel has carried out a military campaign against the terrorist organization Hezbollah there.
Najib Mikati, the caretaker prime minister of Lebanon, said that 1.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of the ground and air attacks that Israel has initiated in the country. The United Nations estimated in 2022 that there were 5.49 million people who called Lebanon home.
Attending an online event last week that the American Task Force on Lebanon hosted, Mikati said:
“We are trying to cope with these problems, but to tell you the truth, security-wise, the most important thing now is to arrange for them shelter, food and how we can manage these displaced peoples.”
This number of people who have been displaced is the largest number in the history of Lebanon, Mikati said. The county has also been affected heavily by civil war as well as conflict with some other countries in the region.
Authorities in Lebanon have said that they’ve opened 867 centers so displaced people could be received in universities, vocational institutes, educational complexes and public schools.
In addition, more than 76,000 Lebanese residents and more than 200,000 Syrians have also left the country altogether and gone to Syria.
Israel has specifically honed in on the southern part of Lebanon in its attacks. They have even engaged in ground attacks where they’ve been involved in heavy fidgeting with units from Hezbollah.
The Israel Defense Forces has issued evacuation notices for about 90 villages in the southern part of the country. They’ve warned all residents who live in the south to move north of the Awali River, which is about 37 miles from the border with Israel.
Avichay Adraee, a spokesperson for the IDF, said that anyone who travels by vehicle to cross from the northern side of the Litani River to the southern side is endangering their “personal safety.”
The country is also demanding that Hezbollah move all of its forces north of the river. They agreed to do that as part of a United Nations Security Council resolution in 2006, which is what ended the last major conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
Israel has also initiated many airstrikes that have pummeled Beirut. They have focused on Dahiya, a southern suburb of the densely-populated city, which has been known as a stronghold for Hezbollah.
Hanin Ghaddar, an author from the area, has even called the region “Hezbollahland.”
It was there, in a bunker below the suburb, that an Israeli strike killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, at the end of September.
Responding to why it’s focused on Beirut, the IDF says it’s hitting the “terrorist infrastructure” of Hezbollah as well as “weapons manufacturing plants” with “precise” strikes in Lebanon’s capital city.
At the same time, Hezbollah is firing drones and rockets toward Israel across the border in response.