Lebanon: Flash Update #65 - Escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, as of 28 March 2025

This report is produced by OCHA Lebanon in collaboration with humanitarian partners and the Inter Sector Coordination Group. It covers the period from 21 March- 28 March 2025. With the close of the Flash Appeal on 31 March and end of the IASC Scale Up activation on 4 April, this is expected to be the final weekly Flash Update as reporting will be migrating to a new format and frequency.

HIGHLIGHTS

• At least 20 killed and 58 injured in airstrikes in Lebanon since 22 March (source: MoPH).
• 93,306 people remain displaced outside their cadaster of origin, while 965,360 people have returned (source: IOM).
• Over 23,000 people have arrived from Syria in North Lebanon since early March (source: UNHCR).
• IASC Scale Up designation to expire on 4 April.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Military activity once again intensified across Lebanon during the reporting period, with new surges in airstrikes and shelling near areas with continued Israeli Army presence. On 22 March, dozens of Israeli airstrikes targeted sites across the South, Nabatieh, Baalbek-Hermel and Baalbek Governorates as a response to several rockets reportedly fired from within Lebanon toward northern Israel. Over 40 people were injured and eight killed, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH); half of the fatalities were civilians, including one child, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

On 28 March, again in response to the launch of rockets from within Lebanon towards Israel, a new wave of Israeli airstrikes targeted sites in the South, Nabatieh and Bekaa Governorates, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs – for the first time since the cessation of hostilities entered into effect on 27 November 2024. At least one additional death and 18 injuries, including three children, had been recorded by MoPH as at the time of publication. Also on 28 March, the Israeli Army issued a displacement order for the first time since the ceasefire started, for the targeted site in Hadath (Beirut’s southern suburbs). Located near two schools, the displacement order reportedly triggered panic in the area. The Ministry of Education announced the closure of public schools in the southern suburbs; many schools across South Lebanon also closed today as the airstrikes started.

The total number of airstrikes more than doubled between 21 and 27 of March, with 44 incidents reported (compared to 20 incidents between 14 and 20 March). Since 22 March, 20 people have been killed and 58 injured due to airstrikes, shelling and other military activities.

The Israeli Army continues to maintain a presence and enforce restrictions on return to a reported 13 square kilometre area on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line. Villages within this 13 km2 area face heightened insecurity as ongoing military activity impacts daily life and continues to prolong displacement within and near this area.

As of 27 March, 93,306 people (51 per cent and 49 per cent) remain displaced outside their cadaster of origin, while 965,360 people were back in their cadaster of origin, according to IOM’s Mobility Snapshot (Round 82). This reflects a slight (3 per cent) decrease in the number of people who remain displaced and a commensurate increase in the number reported back in their communities. The decrease in the number of people displaced is likely due to de-escalation in the recent clashes along the border in Baalbek-El Hermel Governorate.

As of 24 March, the Baalbek Disaster Risk Management (DRM) reported approximately 88,530 arrivals from Syria since 8 December 2024, including some 30,938 arrivals residing in 186 informal collective shelters, and 57,592 residing in the community. These numbers fluctuate due to reported movement from Hermel to collective shelters in other governorates, including Bekaa and Beirut governorates (UNHCR).

Meanwhile, as of the same date, the number of new arrivals from Syria in northern Lebanon increased to 23,198, in the wake of hostilities in the coastal governorates of Syria since early March, according to UNHCR. The majority are hosted in Akkar Governorate (approximately 65 per cent) and the remainder in North Governorate. More than 90 per cent of the new arrivals are residing within the host community, with just over 1,400 people residing in 18 collective shelters. Available collective shelters are overcrowded, with critical gaps in the provision of WASH and solid waste management.