BEIRUT — Lebanon's humanitarian and displacement crisis continues despite the ceasefire announced from 17 April, UNHCR says.
Israeli air strikes, shelling, demolitions, evacuation orders, bans on returning to some areas and movement restrictions continue to cause repeated displacement and rapidly increasing needs.
Although Beirut has not been attacked in recent weeks and Lebanon receives less media attention, civilians remaining in the south and parts of the Bekaa face the same fear for their lives as before the ceasefire.
More people are being forced from their homes.
At least 380 people have been killed since 17 April despite the announced truce.
Extensive destruction continues across large areas, affecting hundreds of thousands of people's homes and essential infrastructure.
Lebanon's National Council for Scientific Research says 428 homes were destroyed and another fifty damaged in the first three days of the ceasefire alone.
Returns remain uncertain
Insecurity determines whether people try to return to their towns and villages or remain where they are.
Many cannot return because the Israeli military prohibits access to areas it controls in the south.
Although displaced people long to go home and thousands of families have attempted to return since the ceasefire, movements remain limited, tentative and often temporary.
Some find their homes destroyed, neighbourhoods unsafe and basic services absent.
Families leave, briefly return and are displaced again, caught in an exhausting cycle of uncertainty.
Those returning face damaged homes and infrastructure, no electricity or water, damaged or non-operational health facilities and schools, and continuing danger from unexploded ordnance.
The UNHCR account describes meetings the previous week with families who had tried returning to Nabatieh and Tyre, only to end up back in collective shelters after finding their homes completely destroyed.
One man showed a photograph of his demolished home on his telephone. He had returned to Sidon and was sleeping on the floor of a school serving as a shelter, with nowhere left to return to.
Cross-border movement and funding shortages
More than 310,000 Syrians have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since the conflict escalated on 2 March, saying they had no other viable option.
UNHCR's emergency appeal for Lebanon is critically underfunded, with only 38% of required resources received, substantially limiting life-saving assistance.
Despite the challenges, the agency continues supporting the government-led response, working closely with national authorities and partners.
Its assistance includes protection services, emergency shelter, cash support and essential supplies.
UNHCR says the fragile ceasefire must be safeguarded so displaced families can return safely, alongside sustained international support.
