Lebanon: Doctors Without Borders scales up response as displacement rises across the country

Since 2 March, Doctors Without Borders teams have been assessing needs and responding in several collective shelters, towns and cities across Lebanon where tens of thousands of displaced people have gathered. Many people have already been displaced multiple times during previous escalations. Shelters are overcrowded, with some people sleeping in their cars or on the streets. Others have remained in their homes despite evacuation orders or returned due to a lack of space in shelters or lack of means to rent accommodation.

Across Lebanon, Doctors Without Borders has deployed several mobile clinics to reach displaced people. A newly established mobile clinic in Saida, Lebanon's third city in the south, provided more than 70 consultations in one day together with psychological first aid. On 6 March, another mobile clinic was deployed in Barja, in the Chouf area of Mount Lebanon—where an estimated 10,000 people are sheltering—and, in just a few hours, delivered 72 general consultations, 11 sexual and reproductive health consultations, and 13 mental health support sessions.

Doctors Without Borders deployed a third mobile clinic in Bebnine in Akkar in northern Lebanon, treating more than 50 displaced people from the south on its first day of activities. On 7 March Doctors Without Borders launched additional mobile clinics in Beirut and the Bekaa region to support internally displaced people, alongside preparing mental health helplines to provide psychological support to people who are on the road or unable to reach services.

In Beirut, Bekaa and Chouf, we have already distributed 350,000L of water and over 7tonnes of essential relief items like blankets and hygiene kits to thousands of displaced people, including children and elderly.

While in Nabatiyeh and South governorates, Doctors Without Borders has had to suspend on-ground activities due to evacuation orders issued by Israel and the lack of security guarantees for staff, Doctors Without Borders teams continue to look into avenues of providing support in the area, as well as running our clinics in Bourj Hammoud in Beirut and in Arsal in the governorate of Baalbek-Hermel to ensure continuity of care for patients and continues to support primary healthcare centres in Tripoli.

The scale of the crisis demands urgent and comprehensive action. At a time when the 2026 Lebanon Response Plan is only 14% funded and contingency stocks remain critically low, Doctors Without Borders calls for the immediate mobilisation of emergency and flexible funding to rapidly scale up assistance for displaced people and the communities hosting them.

Doctors Without Borders remains in contact with Lebanese authorities and other actors and is ready to increase its support as needs grow.