1 million people displaced in Lebanon, as Israeli air strikes continue

BEIRUT — One million people in Lebanon have “moved from place to place in just a few days,” the country’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday as Israeli strikes in the country continue.

“We must not forget the significant displacement movement that occurred from the south, the suburbs, and the Bekaa in just a few hours,” Mikati said, calling it the “largest displacement operation” that occurred “within a matter of hours.”

Mikati said the situation poses issues related to managing food and shelter for those displaced as well as public health and waste management.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has said at least 100,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria to escape recent Israeli air strikes,

“The outflow continues,” he says, adding that UN personnel are providing assistance at four border crossings.

That is an update on figures reported on Sunday, which put close to 80,000 had fled to Syria in the past seven days.

Of those, 36,000 were Syrian and 41,300 were Lebanese, according to Lebanese Minister Nasser Yassin. — Agencies