Lebanon humanitarian crisis: Every hour, more people are forced to flee, with only the clothes on their backs.

Safa Hijazeen, Tearfund’s Regional Director for the Middle East, said:

“The situation in Lebanon is heartbreaking. With every hour more people are forced to flee - desperate, hungry and with only the clothes on their backs.”

“More than a million people have been forced to leave their homes - more than a third of those are children. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Birmingham or Glasgow. 

“Airstrikes have already killed more than a thousand people in Lebanon. Families are literally having to drop everything and run for their lives, with no time to pack even the basics for survival. People are living in tents or cars, in the middle of terrible storms, not knowing where is safe to go, or how to feed their families. 

“Tearfund’s partners are working around the clock to provide food, water, hygiene kits, mattresses, and cash grants, to help people survive. But prices are rising rapidly - our partners say fuel costs have risen by up to 30%. 

“Tearfund’s partners are helping people like Amir*, who had to leave his home when airstrikes started at 3am - with his wife, mother and three sons. ‘Home’ is now a school in Beirut, where Tearfund’s partner gave them mattresses, blankets, and hygiene kits. 

“Tearfund calls on the UK Government to help bring about an end to this conflict - in Lebanon and the wider region - before it pushes more people like Amir into even deeper suffering.”

For more information, or to donate to Tearfund’s Middle East Crisis Appeal, supporting humanitarian needs in Lebanon, Gaza and the wider region, please visit: tearfund.org/middleeastappeal

*Name has been changed. 

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For further information, or to arrange an interview with Tearfund’s Middle East Regional Director, please call Sarah Mitchell on 07592 659986.

Tearfund is a Christian development charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org.