Beirut – Under intense bombardment by Israel, Lebanon is seeing the “largest displacement ever,” says Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Mikati adds: “The estimated number is very high and may reach one million”.
Those displaced are roughly a sixth of Lebanon’s population.
The head of the Lebanese Disaster Management, Naser Yasin, also reported that at least 100 000 Beirut residents fled toward the border with Syria.
With the latest attacks on Friday on Dahieh, which is the suburbs of Beirut, the number of displaced persons is expected to get even higher as more people have had to leave their homes.
Many of the displaced have no place to stay, and no shelter, and some have resorted to staying on the streets.
There is a major need for mattresses, food, and water for the newly displaced.
For now, the situation is a complete disaster.
The Bulrushes spoke to a resident of Beirut who told us: “Day after day things are getting out of control with no solution in the pipeline.
“The situation on the streets is crazy; people are literally sleeping on the streets.
“We pray that we do not become the next Gaza.”
On the other hand, a volunteer on the ground told us: “I have never seen anything like this, we are doing our best to help as many people as we can.
“We are thankful for any donations of any kind from food to mattresses to those who are helping us shelter people.”
On top of this, the first airstrike on the capital Beirut (outside Dahieh), where people have escaped, could see an even bigger concern as to where to shelter the rising numbers of the displaced.
“The recent escalations in Lebanon are nothing short of catastrophic,” said Imran Riza, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in that country.
Earlier this week, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said: “Well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon”.
At least 700 people, including at least 50 children have been killed across the country since last Monday.
As innocent people continue to be forced out of their homes, Lebanon is already grappling with the highest number of refugees, which is more than any other country in the world.
Aid agencies cannot handle this amount of movement at this pace as they have become overstretched.
The international community has warned that Israel’s aggression on Lebanon could escalate into a wider regional conflict.
