Lebanon: more than 300,000 people still displaced as Israeli activity in the south blocks returns, UN says

More than 300,000 people displaced since early March remain uprooted inside Lebanon, the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA reported on 30 October, saying the crisis is far from over. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric relayed the figures to journalists at the regular briefing in New York.

According to the UN account, civilians want to return home, but continued Israeli military activity and presence in the south make going back very difficult. Israel has declared a combat zone in the south in which residents were ordered to evacuate. The UN said Israeli forces reportedly carried out further demolitions, fires and strikes during the week, both inside that zone and beyond it. These are reports relayed by the UN; the briefing did not include an Israeli response.

Returns under difficult conditions

OCHA said close to 970,000 people have already gone back to their communities in the south. Conditions there are often dire: homes are damaged, basic services are disrupted and earning a living is harder than before.

The agency gave the olive harvest in Nabatieh Governorate as an example. Insecurity and restricted access to farmland are disrupting the season, and in some villages farmers could work for only two days before the Israeli army forced them to stop, according to the UN briefing.

Funding

OCHA’s Lebanon Humanitarian Fund has allocated $91 million to support displaced people, returnees, refugees and other communities affected by this year’s escalation, the UN said.

Context

The humanitarian picture comes as the political track remains stalled. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has ruled out disarmament and rejected the Lebanon-Israel framework agreement, as reported in Naim Qassem: “It does not concern us who governs Israel” – Hezbollah rules out disarmament and rejects the Lebanon–Israel framework agreement. Earlier military talks between the two sides were held at CENTCOM headquarters, as covered in Lebanon–Israel: military talks today at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa – Beirut says “no” to direct coordination with the Israeli army.

The same UN briefing noted a $50 million winter appeal launched by the UN refugee agency UNHCR on 30 October to help nine million people in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria and Lebanon get through the cold months.

The figures on displacement and returns come from the UN and have not been independently verified by Geopolitiki. The report is based on the UN News summary of the 30 October briefing; the account of Israeli actions is the UN’s, relayed from reports it received.