Lebanon has opened a large tent shelter on Beirut’s seafront to house civilians displaced by Israeli bombardment, as the number of people forced from their homes continues to rise.
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Rows of blue tents have been installed near Beirut port to replace informal camps that had spread along the Mediterranean coast in recent weeks. Families arriving at the site on 22 May included children carrying belongings, elderly residents and volunteers setting up temporary shelters.
Lebanese authorities say more than one million people have now been displaced across the country since Hezbollah entered the regional conflict in support of Iran following Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader.
Lebanon’s humanitarian situation has worsened sharply as fighting and air strikes continue across several regions, including southern villages and Beirut suburbs. At the new open-air shelter, displaced families queued for food aid while children played between tents and aid workers organised supplies. The government says the site is intended to provide safer and more organised accommodation than the improvised settlements that appeared across the capital earlier this month.
Lebanon, already facing a prolonged economic crisis, is struggling to respond to the scale of displacement as international agencies warn of growing pressure on housing, healthcare and basic services in Beirut and surrounding areas.
