Beirut, Lebanon – More than six months after Israel intensified its war on Lebanon, a displacement crisis is slowly solidifying. At its highest point in April, more than 1.2 million people were displaced by Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Today, the figure stands at about 330,000, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – but humanitarian workers say the drop should not be interpreted as permanent or even durable.
Nadine Mazloum, of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said displacement patterns remain “highly fluid and often reversible” due to the possibility of renewed attacks. While the “overall number of displaced people has fallen substantially from the peak of more than 1.2 million, that should not be mistaken for a resolution of the crisis”, she added. Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been fighting since October 2023, with varying levels of intensity.
On March 2, 2026, Hezbollah responded to continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon for the first time in more than a year, saying it was in retaliation for more than 10,000 violations of a 2024 ceasefire and for the assassination two days earlier of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the United States-Israel war on Iran. Israel then intensified its air attacks on Lebanon, while also reinvading southern Lebanon for the second time in less than two years. It currently occupies more than 50 villages.
The offensive has killed more than 4,380 people and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes – predominantly in southern Lebanon but also in the eastern Bekaa Valley and parts of the capital, Beirut, and its southern suburbs. Displaced people took shelter wherever they could. In Beirut, some set up tents along the waterfront or corniche, or rented apartments in neighbourhoods deemed safer.
But many of the displaced were also attacked, including in double-tap strikes. A series of ceasefire announcements and a June framework agreement, which came after direct, US-sponsored talks between Israel and Lebanon, has not stopped the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon. However, bombardment on the rest of the country has eased, with more than 810,000 people either returning home or to places nearby – often to damaged houses with destroyed infrastructure.
One of them is Soujoud Ramadan, a woman from Froun, a town on a so-called “Yellow Line” – a military zone claimed by Israel that stretches roughly 10km (6 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel border. Froun was included in June’s framework deal under which Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from “pilot zones” and the Lebanese army was intended to enter and disarm Hezbollah. While much of Froun lies in rubble from Israeli air attacks, the Israeli military has not set foot in the town since 2024.
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