During the latest escalation in Lebanon, more than 667,000 residents have fled and sought help from the authorities, according to Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UN refugee agency UNHCR's representative in Lebanon.
That's an increase of 100,000 in just one day, she said via a link from Beirut at a press conference held in Geneva, AFP reports.
The displacement is occurring at a higher rate than during the heightened conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024, Lindholm Billing added.
Attack near Tyre
Israel carried out an attack near the city of Tyre, on the coast of southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been advancing over the past week.
The attack followed new calls for all residents of the area - an area that had been planned to become an internationally guarded buffer zone south of the Litani River - to evacuate north.
Staying means "risking life," Israeli military Arabic-speaking spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X earlier this morning.
Extensive displacement
Similar warnings were issued during the 2023 and 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese.
According to the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel signed in November last year, forces from both sides were to gradually withdraw from the area south of the river.
Israel also attacked southern and eastern Lebanon overnight, according to Lebanon's state news agency NNA. The Bekaa Valley was also reportedly attacked.
