The United Nations in Lebanon issued an appeal on Friday for an additional US$331.5 million to provide assistance to 1.4 million people from June through August. The appeal comes amid escalating Israeli attacks and expanding displacement orders, which are taking a heavy toll on Lebanese civilians. The revised Flash Appeal brings the total request from March through August to nearly $640 million to sustain life-saving efforts.
Three months ago, UN Secretary-General AntĂłnio Guterres announced the initial appeal in the immediate aftermath of the initial escalation. However, donors have only provided $186 million so far, leaving a significant funding gap.
This shortfall limits the ability of humanitarian organizations to maintain essential services and expand their response capacities, especially amid continuous waves of attacks and renewed displacement. Despite limited funding, the UN and its partners have reached approximately 680,000 people since March. However, this number is far lower than the initial target of one million.
“Humanitarian needs are soaring with each day of the conflict; our work is unfortunately far from over […] we need the funding,” said Imran Riza, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, to reporters in Geneva on Friday.
Riza stressed that families continue to face repeated displacement, loss of livelihoods, and growing food insecurity while essential services, including healthcare and water systems, have been severely impacted.
Speaking from Beirut, the veteran humanitarian expressed his shock at the widespread devastation caused by the ongoing hostilities, including air and drone strikes, as well as shelling. He described “hospitals and clinics hit by airstrikes, government buildings destroyed, agricultural land scorched, water stations demolished and schools turned to displacement sites”.
Lebanon is facing a severe humanitarian emergency following the large-scale Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and ground operations that began in early March. This crisis was triggered by a broader regional escalation that began with the United States and Israel launching a war on Iran. This was followed by Hezbollah launching rockets and drones into Israeli territory, which reportedly caused two civilian deaths in northern Israel.
Despite several ceasefire agreements, Israeli military operations in Lebanon persist, including ongoing airstrikes and large-scale ground incursions. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence and the need for assistance becoming increasingly urgent.
Since the latest escalation of violence began on March 2, more than 3,500 people have been killed and over 10,000 have been injured. Some 1.5 million people — around a quarter of Lebanon's population — have been displaced from their homes, including nearly 450,000 who have crossed into Syria since March 2.
Riza underscored the alarming toll on civilians, the destruction of homes and basic services, and the deepening needs across the country.
"Health workers and first responders are facing death and injury on a horrific scale" while entire neighborhoods have been turned to rubble, he said, adding that “food security is rapidly deteriorating”
Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities in Lebanon continue, despite amounting to clear violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and likely qualifying as war crimes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 191 attacks on healthcare facilities have been reported since March 2, resulting in the deaths of 128 health workers and injuring 357 others.
The sharp escalation in violence has caused a sharp deterioration in Lebanon's food security situation. The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, released in April 2026, estimates that 1.24 million people are expected to experience crisis-level food insecurity (IPC Phase 3) or worse between April and August of this year.
The Humanitarian Coordinator also cited the deep and lasting trauma of repeated displacement faced by families, a lack of adequate shelter, and uncertainty about being able to return home. Providing critical aid in these conditions is extremely complicated and requires urgent scaling up of support for the most vulnerable, he stressed.
“There are a lot of displacement orders happening all the time. And in fact, this morning there have been a number that have been issued […] people keep moving. So, it’s very difficult to know where people are at certain times.”
“Affected people are rapidly exhausting their coping capacities and essential services are under increasing strain,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in an update accompanying the appeal.
Riza called for sustained international support to facilitate a wide range of life-saving assistance, protect civilians, and restore essential services in affected areas.
Women and girls across Lebanon increasingly at risk
As in conflicts everywhere, mass displacement has increased risks for women and girls throughout Lebanon.
“Overcrowded shelters lack privacy, adequate sanitation and basic protection measures,” warned Andrew Saberton, the deputy executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
He noted that more than 600,000 women and girls are estimated to be at risk of gender-based violence. He spoke with journalists in Geneva via video from Cairo.
Additionally, approximately 1,800 women are expected to give birth every month across Lebanon.
“And yet healthcare facilities continue to come under attack, hospitals and primary healthcare centers have been forced to close and women are finding it increasingly difficult to access essential maternal health services”, Saberton explained.
He described how a UNFPA-supported primary healthcare center and a women and girls’ safe space in southern Lebanon that he had visited while it was being rebuilt in 2025 was now “once again severely damaged by airstrikes. These were amongst the few, very few facilities that continue to operate in the area.”
Protracted displacement crisis
Responding to questions from reporters, Riza warned of the protracted displacement crisis now unfolding across southern Lebanon, and noted that after conflict between Hezbollah fighters and Israel in 2024, some 68,000 people “could not go back to their villages after the cessation of hostilities.”
This was either because it was not safe or “mainly that their villages had been destroyed. I think our estimation now is that number is going to be much, much larger, at minimum probably around 200,000, but probably more than that”.
Before this latest deterioration starting in March 2026, hostilities in Lebanon had already escalated significantly between September and November 2024, with thousands of Israeli airstrikes across Lebanese territory, causing substantial civilian casualties and mass displacement.