IOM warns of 'alarming' risk of long-term mass displacement in Lebanon
International Organization for Migration chief Amy Pope told AFP on Thursday in Beirut that the prospects for prolonged mass displacement in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah are at war, were "very alarming".
"I think those prospects are very alarming because you look right now at the level of destruction that's happening and... the further destruction that has been threatened," she said when asked about the possibility of prolonged mass displacement.
"There are parts of the south that are being completely flattened... even if the war ends tomorrow, that destruction remains and there needs to be a rebuilding," she said, noting the reconstruction requires funding, resources and peace.
"Unless we start to see those things come into place, that means that people will be displaced now for who knows how long," she added.
Lebanon says more than one million people have been displaced since the country was drawn into the Middle East war last month when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the U.S.-Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion, and has issued sweeping evacuation warnings for swathes of south Lebanon and Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs.
Authorities say more than 136,000 people are staying in collective shelters including schools and stadiums.
Pope said the current displacement crisis was "far more severe" than during the previous hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel which a 2024 ceasefire sought to end.
She noted the high number of displaced people, shelters struggling to cope and the fact that some people have been unable to return home after being displaced during the previous round of hostilities.
Source: Agence France Presse
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