More than 76,000 people in southern Lebanon displaced by cross-border fighting between Israel, Hezbollah

More than 76,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in almost three months of near-daily fighting along the border with Israel, the UN’s International Organization for Migration says.

The border area has seen a surge of violence since the deadly Hamas onslaught in southern Israel on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza, with the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group launching rockets, missiles and drones at Israel on a near-daily basis, which Israel has responded to by hitting Hezbollah targets close to the border.

In a report published on Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that the escalation has displaced 76,018 people, mainly in areas of southern Lebanon bordering Israel.

More than 80 percent of the displaced Lebanese are staying with relatives, according to the report, and only 2% are housed in 14 collective shelters spread across the south of the country, mainly in the coastal city of Tyre and in the Hasbaya region.

The rest have rented apartments or moved to homes in areas farther from the border, the UN agency adds.

According to figures shared by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with US special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein on Thursday, more than 80,000 residents of northern Israel have been displaced by the cross-border clashes.