Middle East

“No system can cope”: Aid worker says Lebanon shelters overwhelmed with displaced people

By Charlotte Reck

The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Lebanon amid the Middle East conflict is growing catastrophic, as hundreds of thousands of people are now displaced and scrambling for safety, according to a deputy coordinator at Doctors Without Borders.

Earlier this week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel’s assault on Lebanon has displaced more than 600,000 people and killed more than 400, including scores of women and children.

Massart said those in shelters are struggling because they are hungry, require medical care, and need to access basic commodities such as hygiene kits. Massart described a shelter he worked in this week holding 800 displaced people but providing only eight bathroom facilities between them. “It just doesn’t work,” he said.

Massart said the aid group is providing support to people already in shelters and to displaced people in the community who have been unable to locate space in a shelter and are sleeping on the streets, following evacuation orders from their own homes.

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