Beirut – The Israeli army's expanded military attacks on Lebanon, leading to catastrophic humanitarian consequences, are extremely concerning. Unlawful evacuation orders have triggered widespread forced displacement, while infrastructure and humanitarian services fail to meet the rising needs of the displaced.
The Israeli military escalation, which began at dawn on Monday, 2 March, involved intensive air and naval strikes on southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh). This resulted in around 850 Lebanese deaths, thousands more injured, and over a million people displaced, marking one of Lebanon's largest waves of internal displacement in modern history.
This escalation comes amid continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon despite the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, and rapidly evolving regional developments, including the US‑Israeli strike on Iran and ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
I brought my children out from under the bombardment to protect them, but I lost one of them because of these circumstances. I still cannot comprehend what happened; this was one of the most harrowing moments of my life
Mariam Qasim, a displaced woman from Haris in southern Lebanon
The increased frequency and geographic expansion of Israeli attacks, particularly in areas south of the Litani River, along with widespread evacuation orders, have led to the near-total evacuation of entire towns and villages amid mass panic and without safe corridors or measures to protect civilians and ensure orderly movement. This raises serious concerns that the orders may constitute prohibited forced displacement, while also exposing civilians to significant risks to their lives and safety.
Field testimonies collected by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor document harsh and inhumane displacement conditions. Journeys from southern Lebanon to Beirut, which normally take around two hours, lasted up to 24 hours due to severe overcrowding. Families remained in vehicles for long hours without food or water, and many were forced to leave their homes suddenly without being able to take basic necessities.
Children, women, including pregnant women, and the elderly were the most affected by these conditions. Field reports indicate that they were subjected to severe physical and psychological strain, including the documented death of an infant, cases of fainting among pregnant women, and children going for hours without food, along with serious difficulties in accessing health facilities or receiving basic medical care.
Speaking to Euro-Med Monitor, Mariam Qasim from the town of Haris in southern Lebanon recounted: "We were suddenly told we had to leave the house, so we were forced to leave in a hurry with my mother and my children, including three newborn triplets no older than a month and a half, as well as another four-year-old girl."
"My only concern was saving and protecting my children. I drove the car at the start of the journey, with my youngest daughter in my lap, until I reached Qana, where a relative helped me drive so I could feed my children," she added. "We spent about two days on the road without sleep, food, or even water."
She continued: "We then arrived in Baalchmay, where some neighbours were able to host us temporarily, but the shock came the following morning when I discovered that one of my babies had died. I brought my children out from under the bombardment to protect them, but I lost one of them because of these circumstances. I still cannot comprehend what happened; this was one of the most harrowing moments of my life."
Euro-Med Monitor documented severe difficulties faced by pregnant women in accessing health facilities and receiving basic medical care during displacement, amid shelter and transport conditions that lacked minimum standards of dignity and health safety. Maha from Aaitit, who is eight months pregnant, said she was forced to remain in her car for around seven hours after a petrol station refused to allow her to use the toilet.
Similarly, Ruqaya, a pregnant woman from Tyre, reported that she spent an entire night in her car suffering from severe abdominal pain before seeking refuge in an overcrowded school in Beirut's Jnah district that lacked even minimum hygiene standards, leading her to faint twice. Another pregnant woman staying at a shelter in Uppermost Matn described the harsh conditions of living in an uncomfortable and unsanitary environment.
As of the date of this statement, a large number of displaced people had received no support from official bodies or humanitarian organisations, forcing them to rely on limited personal resources or sporadic volunteer and community initiatives to meet their basic needs.
The widening gap between the scale of displacement and the capacity of shelters, particularly given the decline in the number of open facilities compared to previous waves, has pushed infrastructure and humanitarian services to critical levels. Thousands of families remain without adequate shelter and in conditions that lack the minimum standards of protection and dignity.
In this context, Amal al-Saghir from the village of Ainata in Bint Jbeil told Euro-Med Monitor that the first moments of the shelling were shocking and filled with fear, as her home is located opposite Jabal al-Bat in Aitaroun, one of the areas controlled by Israeli forces inside Lebanon.
She said, "The first thing I thought of when I heard the shelling at night was my daughter and how I could protect her. I did not think about the house or anything else. All I could think about was protecting my daughter."
"I left my home in a hurry after grabbing just a few simple items for my daughter. We endured a harrowing journey of more than 24 hours before reaching Beirut," she added. "I did not know where I was going or where I would sleep until my sister-in-law called and told me she had managed to secure temporary accommodation for me in a hotel in the Hamra district of Beirut."
She continued: "We are trying to manage on our own in Beirut, as we have received no assistance from any official or civil society organisation. No one has asked about us, neither the state nor any organisations."
Similarly, Euro-Med Monitor has documented severe cases of displacement in which families were forced to spend entire nights in their cars or out in the open, or to seek shelter in overcrowded facilities that lack even the most basic sanitary and humanitarian conditions.
Heba from Bint Jbeil recounted that her family spent 17 hours on a strenuous journey before being forced to sit on the seashore in Sidon. They then moved between temporary and unsuitable accommodations, including a cramped laboratory in Bchamoun that could not even fit a mattress and a damp room in Aaramoun. With rent in safer areas rising to at least $1,000 per month, the family ultimately found only a house without heating in Faraya. Likewise, Suleiman from Shaqra in southern Lebanon was compelled to seek refuge in a mosque in Beirut after a difficult journey of displacement from his hometown.
Severe difficulties were reported in evacuating patients and the elderly due to traffic congestion and dangerous conditions on the ground, in some cases leading to near-fatalities caused by delayed evacuation. Euro-Med Monitor documented the case of 90-year-old Abu Isa, who was left alone in his home in Mashrafieh in southern Beirut when the Israeli evacuation order was issued. His son, ambulance crews, and civil defence teams were unable to reach him due to the dangerous situation, until a friend of his son managed to evacuate him with difficulty on a motorbike, without his medication or clothes.
Isa, the elderly man's son, told Euro-Med Monitor: "The neighbourhood was being completely evacuated, and people did not know where to go. I tried to go back to get my father, but the traffic was heavy, and the road was blocked. My father cannot move easily, so I started contacting several organisations, including the ambulance service, the Red Cross, and the civil defence, and gave them his location. I was promised they would try to reach him, but no one could get through because of the dangerous situation."
"More than an hour after the sudden evacuation warning, one of my friends managed to reach the house on a motorbike and took my father to the Tayouneh neighbourhood, without being able to take his medication, clothes, or any of his essential belongings," he added.
He continued: "I later managed to reach my father after a long search and heavy traffic and took him to the Hamra district in Beirut. If my father had stayed at home, we might have lost him. Thank God we were able to save him. We are currently staying at a hotel in Beirut, although it is difficult to afford the accommodation. No one is helping us so far, neither NGOs nor the state."
Forcing civilians to flee in this manner, through widespread evacuation orders issued amid intense attacks and without providing safe corridors or effective guarantees of shelter and care, raises serious concerns of prohibited forced displacement in violation of international humanitarian law. Customary rules prohibit the displacement of civilians for reasons related to the conflict unless required for their safety or by imperative military necessity and oblige parties to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians the effects of military operations.
This pattern of evacuation orders and accompanying attacks raises serious suspicions of war crimes, as it appears to involve unjustified forced displacement of the civilian population and reflects potential breaches of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution. It also provides grounds to consider whether these acts may amount to crimes against humanity if it is established that they were carried out as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against the civilian population, including through deportation or forcible transfer and other inhumane acts.
The failure to spare civilians, the scale of the attacks, the destruction of essential infrastructure, and the displacement of more than one million people, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly, in conditions lacking minimum standards of safety, dignity, and care, may constitute a serious pattern of cruel and inhuman treatment. These circumstances also raise further concerns of collective punishment, particularly as large numbers of displaced persons remain without adequate shelter, food, or healthcare.
All states must refrain from providing any form of military or political support that would contribute to the continuation of violations against civilians in Lebanon or to the perpetuation of the conditions that allow them to occur, in line with their legal duty not to aid or assist in internationally unlawful acts.
The international community and the UN Security Council must intervene immediately and effectively to exert decisive pressure on Israel to halt its unlawful military attacks against civilians and civilian objects, and to stop evacuation orders that are driving widespread forced displacement under conditions lacking even minimum protection. Binding international measures are needed to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law, including respect for the principles of distinction and proportionality and the obligation to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians.
Euro-Med Monitor calls for the immediate launch of an independent international investigation into the Israeli attacks and evacuation orders and their impact on the civilian population, including resulting deaths, injuries, mass displacement, and deprivation of shelter and basic care. The investigation must lead to the determination of responsibility, accountability for those involved, and redress for the victims.
UN humanitarian agencies, in particular the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), must launch an urgent emergency response commensurate with the scale of displacement and mounting needs. They should work to expand shelter capacity and to provide safe, dignified temporary accommodation, mobile sanitation facilities, and urgent food and medical supplies. Priority must be given to pregnant women, children, the elderly, the sick, and people with disabilities, ensuring their effective access to essential care and services, including arrangements for urgent medical evacuation for the most vulnerable cases.
Euro-Med Monitor urges the Lebanese authorities to fulfil their legal and humanitarian responsibilities by activating comprehensive national emergency plans to address rising displacement and urgently adapting public buildings and facilities into safe and suitable shelters. Authorities should take effective measures to curb chaos and exploitation in the housing sector, including rent control, preventing arbitrary price increases, and imposing temporary rent caps in areas receiving displaced persons. They should also provide protection and psychological, social, and material support to displaced persons, facilitate the work of civil society initiatives and volunteers, and ensure the preservation of dignity and the provision of necessary care until conditions allow for their safe and voluntary return.
