Flash Appeal: Lebanon, March - May 2026 (March 2026) [EN/AR]

Overview

Linked to the military escalation across the Middle East, hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel intensified sharply on 2 March. The surge in violence represents the most serious deterioration in security conditions since the November 2024 ceasefire, deepening an already severe humanitarian and socio-economic crisis and placing immense strain on families, communities, and overstretched aid services.

Within the first week of the latest escalation, hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have once again been forced from their homes. Lebanese authorities reported 634 people killed and over 1,586 wounded (Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, as of 11 March 2026). The proportion of children affected by this conflict has been significant: in the first seven days of the conflict, 20 per cent of casualties were children. Airstrikes and missile exchanges have caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, schools, health facilities, and essential services. Several collective shelters, primarily public schools, were opened initially across the country to host displaced populations, with many being at full capacity within the first days of the crisis. Additional displaced families are sheltering in informal locations such as mosques, community halls, and unfinished buildings, placing greater demand on water, sanitation, waste management and fire safety systems.

The health system is experiencing growing pressure as casualty numbers increase. The closure by 11 March of 47 primary health care centers and five hospitals in the South and Beirut’s Southern suburbs will significantly impact the provision of health care services in conflict affected areas. The evacuation of two hospitals in Beirut’s southern suburbs following the 5 March displacement order, coordinated by the Ministry of Public Health and the Lebanese Red Cross, in addition to reported attacks affecting healthcare personnel and facilities, has placed additional strain on health system capacity. Electricity supply and fuel availability remain fragile, and disruptions to fuel distribution risk affecting hospital operations, water pumping stations, and electricity generation.

Lebanon is at the same time one of the countries hosting the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world, according to UNHCR. Both live-in and live-out migrants also represent notable groups of concern who face specific barriers and protection risks due to their background. The current escalation compounds severe pre-existing humanitarian vulnerabilities. According to the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) 2026, prior to the crisis, an estimated 3 million people in Lebanon already required assistance, including refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities due to conflict-related incidents, spillovers from Syria, socioeconomic vulnerability, and/or other drivers, including water scarcity and drought-like conditions. Approximately 961,000 people were facing acute food insecurity, while health, water, and social protection systems were already operating under significant strain.

Humanitarian access is increasingly constrained. Areas in South Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs remain active conflict zones, limiting humanitarian movement. Debris and the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in affected villages further restrict access. Key transport corridors—including coastal routes and roads linking the Bekaa Valley—face potential disruption. Fuel shortages and panic buying are also reported, raising concerns about the continuity of essential services and the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian notification mechanisms coordinated by OCHA have been activated to facilitate safe humanitarian movements, but unpredictable security conditions continue to pose operational challenges for assessments and aid delivery.

The current escalation is generating rapidly growing humanitarian needs across multiple sectors, affecting displaced populations, communities remaining in conflict-affected areas, and host communities receiving large numbers of displaced people.

The most urgent humanitarian needs include emergency shelter and non-food items and management of collective sites, multipurpose cash assistance, food assistance, health care, water and sanitation services, protection (inclusive of GBV and child protection) services, education, and social stability support.

Humanitarian partners estimate that 1,300,000 people may be directly affected by the crisis during the next three months. These figures include displaced households, projected populations remaining in hard-to-reach areas, and other vulnerable communities impacted by airstrikes and disruptions to services and markets. At least 20 per cent of displaced people are expected to be accommodated in collective shelters.

This prioritized appeal calls for US$ 308.3 million to provide lifesaving assistance and protection to up to 1,000,000 people, including affected vulnerable Lebanese, displaced Syrians, Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, Palestinian Refugees from Syria, and migrants for a period of three months. An immediate injection of additional funding through the Flash Appeal is needed to address critical lifesaving needs resulting from the renewed hostilities, building on existing Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) coordination mechanisms (and associated financial asks) to support the escalation response.