Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

Regional Overviews

​Middle East & North Africa: Spotlight – Lebanon
Fighting between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) based in Lebanon escalated on 8 October 2023 along the Blue Line that separates the two countries and continued in 2024, leading to significant displacement. It triggered nearly 1.1 million movements during the year and left 985,000 people living in internal displacement at the end of it, the highest figure since 2009 when data first became available for the country. 
 
Most movements were reported from and within southern districts including Bint Jbeil, Sour and Marjaayoun, particularly from mid-September as Israeli airstrikes and relocation directives increased. The IDF then launched a ground offensive in early October, which led to a sharp increase in displacement, particularly in southern governorates. Many people fled to other parts of the country, including the capital, Beirut, which was also subjected to increased bombardments that triggered displacement.
 
The scale and scope of the crisis led to overcrowding in shelters, forcing some IDPs to sleep in empty buildings and in the open, raising concerns about water and sanitation issues and the onset of winter. Palestinian and Syrian refugees as well as migrants from other countries were also forced to flee.
 
As the conflict spread, displacement was reported in all of the country’s 26 districts, with the number of IDPs reaching almost 900,000 by the eve of 27 November when a ceasefire was agreed. The ensuing reduction in hostilities led to a significant fall in the number of new displacements. It also allowed some IDPs to return, but the presence of Israeli troops in some areas, precarious living conditions, damage to homes and infrastructure and unexploded ordnance hampered their efforts to bring their displacement to a sustainable end.
 
Many of the 985,000 people still living in displacement at the end of the year struggled to generate an income. This was particularly the case in the south, where around 95 per cent of agricultural households in the most affected districts were displaced. Many had previously relied on agriculture to sustain them- selves but were no longer able to work their land. The burning of fields and crops and restrictions on farmers returning to their areas of origin disrupted agricultural activities across around a quarter of Lebanon’s arable land.
 
This not only undermined people’s livelihoods, it also reduced the country’s productivity and fuelled a rise in food insecurity, which affected 30 per cent of the population as of the end of the year.
 
Conflict and displacement also aggravated water, sanitation and health issues already present as a result of recurrent drought, unsustainable irrigation and a lack of investment in waste management. Reduced access to clean water in shelters heightened the risk of waterborne diseases, and damage to water infrastructure threatened to sustain risks.
 
These challenges came in the context of a financial crisis since 2019, the Beirut port explosion of August 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, which set the country’s economic growth back by 15 years. Instability brought on by the conflict also upended imports and markets, leaving a growing number of people, including IDPs, living below the poverty line.
 
Responding to the crisis was difficult, but some good practices emerged in terms of coordination and risk reduction. The country’s Disaster Risk Management Unit coordinated with different government entities to establish collective shelters, deliver basic assistance and provide protection against gender- based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse.
 
It also worked with the UN to improve the collection of displacement data, which was used to inform interventions. It also stepped up its monitoring and reporting to assess the impacts of the conflict on agriculture, roads and public buildings, including schools sheltering IDPs. Its assessment of damage that Israeli bombardments caused to irrigation canals fed by the Litani River led the authorities to take temporary measures to prevent flooding.
 
These initiatives show the value of using existing systems to monitor and manage the impacts of conflict and displacement. They will now need to be complemented with longer-term investments that support IDPs in achieving durable solutions. 
 
Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Norwegian Refugee Council. Geneva, Switzerland.