More than 76,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in almost three months of near-daily fighting along the border with Israel, the UN’s International Organization for Migration has said, AFP reports.
The border area has seen a surge of violence since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in early October, with tit-for-tat exchanges of fire continuing between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Lebanese ally of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In a report published on Thursday, the IOM said that the escalation has displaced 76,018 people, mainly in areas of southern Lebanon bordering Israel.
More than 80 percent of the displaced Lebanese are staying with relatives, according to the report, and only 2 percent housed in 14 collective shelters spread across the south of the country, mainly in the coastal city of Tyre and in the Hasbaya region.
The rest have rented apartments or moved to homes in areas farther from the border, the UN agency said.
