(Adnkronos) – Over a quarter of Lebanon is under an Israeli evacuation order. This was reported by the United Nations refugee agency. Rema Jamous Imseis, the agency’s director for the Middle East, told a news conference that new evacuation orders for 20 villages in southern Lebanon have affected more than 25% of the country. “People are responding to these evacuation requests and are fleeing with almost nothing,” she said.
According to Lebanese government figures, more than 1.2 million people have been displaced from southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and parts of Beirut. The main cities and villages in the south of the country have emptied, forcing the population to move to the northernmost cities. Many have ended up in unsafe and unhealthy conditions in shelters in and around the capital, where schools and shops have been closed to accommodate people. The huge number of displaced people has brought social services to their knees, leaving thousands on the streets.
“Beirut was prepared to welcome only 10% of the wave of people that arrived,” Mayor Abdallah Darwich told the BBC last week. “We didn’t imagine it could be so big.”
