Data processed by The National shows that Lebanon has rejoined the nations with the most displaced people, just months after a period of mass return.
By October 2025, the UN's International Organisation for Migration reported that 986,192 internally displaced people had returned home following the Israel-Hezbollah conflict that began in October 2023.
But that recovery was short-lived and a new wave of displacement among Lebanon's population of 5.3 million has pushed more than one in five people out of their homes.
Since Israel's latest escalation against Lebanon on March 2, displacement has accelerated, far outpacing the previous conflict.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs' flash report on March 19 states that more than 1.2 million people were displaced across the country in under three weeks.
That pushed Lebanon's internal displacement rate from roughly 2 per cent of the population in January 2025 to approximately 22.6 per cent today, placing it among six Arab League members in the top 10 countries for internal displacement.
As of March 24, at least 1,072 people have been killed and 2,966 injured since the escalation began, Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health reported. There were 121 children among the fatalities and 382 children among the injured.
The Israeli military this week has focused on striking bridges on the Litani River, isolating the south the country, which the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has described as “prelude to a ground invasion”.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Litani should become the frontier separating Israel and Lebanon. “Just as we control 55 per cent of Gaza, we must do the same in Lebanon,” he said. “This war will end with a remarkable victory when the Iranian regime is no longer hostile and Hezbollah is eliminated.”
