Nearly 29,000 displaced in Lebanon amid border clashes: UN
Published: 05:10 PM,Oct 28,2023 | EDITED : 09:10 PM,Oct 28,2023
Flares are fired from northern Israel over the southern Lebanese border village of Aita al-Shaab. — AFP
BEIRUT: Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Lebanese fighters and the Israeli army, a United Nations agency said on Friday.
A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country's south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 per cent since October 23.
Some have found refuge with family members elsewhere in the country, while those who can afford it have been able to rent apartments on a short-term basis.
But with Lebanon in the grips of an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, some are living in makeshift shelters in the south's larger towns.
In Lebanon, at least 58 people have been killed in the cross-border exchanges of fire, most of them are fighters but also including at least four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.
On October 7, gunmen poured from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
In retaliatory Israeli air and artillery strikes, at least 7,650 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 3,000 children, according to figures released by the health ministry in the territory.
The death toll in Gaza is the highest there since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian territory in 2005.
With tension climbing again, the Lebanese authorities issued precautionary guidance for evacuating the airport and surrounding installations in case of emergency. But the guidance did not indicate that there was any imminent threat to the site.
The conflict in Gaza, where Israel has stepped up its ground offensive, has raised fears that fighting could expand more widely in the region, including the flashpoint Lebanese border.
Israel's military said on Saturday it had 'thwarted a surface-to-air missile that was fired from Lebanon' towards an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It said the military had responded by 'striking the origin of the missile's fire'.
It also said one its drones had hit in Lebanon which a fighting cell had tried to launch an anti-tank missile at Israel. — Agencies
A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country's south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 per cent since October 23.
Some have found refuge with family members elsewhere in the country, while those who can afford it have been able to rent apartments on a short-term basis.
But with Lebanon in the grips of an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, some are living in makeshift shelters in the south's larger towns.
In Lebanon, at least 58 people have been killed in the cross-border exchanges of fire, most of them are fighters but also including at least four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.
On October 7, gunmen poured from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
In retaliatory Israeli air and artillery strikes, at least 7,650 people have been killed in Gaza, including more than 3,000 children, according to figures released by the health ministry in the territory.
The death toll in Gaza is the highest there since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian territory in 2005.
With tension climbing again, the Lebanese authorities issued precautionary guidance for evacuating the airport and surrounding installations in case of emergency. But the guidance did not indicate that there was any imminent threat to the site.
The conflict in Gaza, where Israel has stepped up its ground offensive, has raised fears that fighting could expand more widely in the region, including the flashpoint Lebanese border.
Israel's military said on Saturday it had 'thwarted a surface-to-air missile that was fired from Lebanon' towards an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It said the military had responded by 'striking the origin of the missile's fire'.
It also said one its drones had hit in Lebanon which a fighting cell had tried to launch an anti-tank missile at Israel. — Agencies