--- description: The grim milestone, representing one fifth of the country’s population, was passed on the same day as the Israeli military launched a ground operation. title: One Million People Displaced in Lebanon as Israel Launches Ground Invasion image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39905193633b38e1/69b862a05ac6311953dd1898/GettyImages-2264642330.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Lebanon](/tag/lebanon/) ## Lebanon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # One Million People Displaced in Lebanon as Israel Launches Ground Assault  by [Rebecca Schneid](/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 16, 2026 8:24 PM CUT  Displaced people sleep on Beirut's seaside Corniche in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 6, 2026, after fleeing southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, with many saying they believe the waterfront is safer. Displaced people sleep on Beirut's seaside Corniche in Beirut, Lebanon, on March 6, 2026, after fleeing southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, with many saying they believe the waterfront is safer.Toufic Rmeiti—Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 16, 2026 8:24 PM CUT Israel’s bombing of [Lebanon](https://time.com/tag/lebanon/ "undefined") has displaced more than one million people across the country, the Lebanese government announced on Monday. The milestone, representing one-fifth of the country’s population, came on the same day the Israeli military launched what it described as a "limited and targeted" operation in the country’s south against the militant group [Hezbollah](https://time.com/7317656/lebanon-hezbollah-disarmament-us-israel/ "undefined"). The displacement has been triggered by numerous Israeli evacuation orders and waves of [intensive bombing](https://time.com/7035964/lebanon-displacement-hezbollah-israel/ "undefined") covering widespread areas of southern Lebanon, parts of the Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut, often forcing thousands to flee at short notice along single roads to safety. At least 886 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The World Health Organization said at least 98 of those killed were children. **Read more**: [_Can Lebanon Actually Disarm Hezbollah?_](https://time.com/7317656/lebanon-hezbollah-disarmament-us-israel/ "undefined") Most people have sought refuge with family or friends. More than 120,000 of the displaced are sheltering in collective shelters, but many people are sleeping in the streets to avoid bombing, humanitarian groups tell TIME. “People don't really have a place to go to,” says Magda Rossman, Country Director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). “They may stay in their apartments during the day, but at night, when airstrikes happen, they drive to other parts of Beirut and sleep in the car, or they go and sleep on the street, in tents.” “A lot of people are having to flee at very short notice, and sometimes at night. They leave basically with nothing. It’s quite desperate,” she added. The current round of fighting began on March 2, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in response to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and the killing of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. But Israel has been bombing Lebanon “almost daily” since a tenuous ceasefire was struck after the last conflict between the two sides, according to the [United Nations](https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/un-experts-warn-against-continued-violations-ceasefire-lebanon-and-urge "undefined"). More than 1,000 people were killed in under two weeks in [that fighting](https://time.com/7035964/lebanon-displacement-hezbollah-israel/ "undefined"), according to the health ministry. Israel has accused Lebanon of not upholding its part of the deal by ensuring that Hezbollah withdraw from the border and allowing the Lebanese army to take over. Israel continued to occupy several positions in southern Lebanon following the 2025 fighting. On Monday, Nadav Shoshani, the Israeli military spokesman, said Israeli forces were now pressing into “new areas.” A joint statement from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain issued on Monday warned that a significant Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon would have "devastating humanitarian consequences." "It must be averted. The humanitarian situation in Lebanon, including ongoing mass displacement, is already deeply alarming," the statement said. Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said that displaced Lebanese residents would not be able to return to their homes south of the Litani River until northern Israel was considered safe. "Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut will not return to areas south of the Litani line until the safety of northern residents is ensured," he said in a statement. Nora Ingdal, country director for Save the Children in Lebanon, said some 700 schools had been turned into shelters for people fleeing. She tells TIME she has spoken to children and parents who had come back to the same shelters they were in just 15 months ago during the last round of Israeli airstrikes across the country, which came to an end with a tenuous ceasefire in November 2024\. This time, she adds, the scale and pace of displacement has been “much faster.” Lou Cormack, Médecins Sans Frontières country coordinator in Lebanon, compared the bombing in Lebanon to Israel’s campaign in Gaza. “We are seeing a similarity to what we saw in the past two and a half years in Gaza: broad evacuation orders, constant displacement of thousands of families, and systematic bombing on densely populated areas,” Cormack said. “After 15 months of a fragile ceasefire that failed to stop the violence in Lebanon, families are once again trapped between fleeing or facing bombs,” Cormack added. The displacement crisis is not confined to Lebanon. In Iran, the focus of U.S. and Israel bombing, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that as many as [3.2 million ](https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/press-releases/unhcr-3-2-million-iranians-temporarily-displaced-iran-conflict-intensifies "undefined")people have been internally displaced since the conflict began on Feb. 28\. In a recent statement, [Refugees International](https://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/u-s-israel-iran-war-on-course-for-cataclysmic-civilian-harm-displacement-and-humanitarian-need/ "undefined") said the war is “on course for cataclysmic civilian harm, displacement and humanitarian need,” warning that large-scale strikes on infrastructure and urban centers could push millions more civilians to flee. 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