Military escalation across the Middle East region is putting millions of civilian lives at risk after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on targets in Iran on Saturday, triggering retaliatory attacks and raising fears of a wider regional war. The violence has already caused casualties and forced displacement across multiple countries, including those where ActionAid works. Across the region, airspace closures, missile interceptions, and heightened military alerts are disrupting daily life and deepening instability for communities already living with conflict, displacement, and economic hardship.
In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes and exchanges with Hezbollah have killed more than 77 people and injured over 500, while at least 85,000 people have been forcibly displaced from southern Lebanon alone. Israeli authorities have also issued evacuation orders for civilians south of the Litani River, one of the largest displacement orders in the area in recent years, forcing families who have already been displaced multiple times to flee once again.
Despite rapidly worsening conditions, ActionAid’s local partners continue to deliver life-saving assistance across the region. We work through local responders and women’s rights organizations who are deeply rooted in their communities and best placed to lead the response.
Marianne Samaha, Head of Program Development and Partnerships with Basmeh & Zeitooneh, said:
“The escalation since Monday, early morning, has resulted in significant civilian casualties, and significant damage to infrastructure. We also know that this violence has resulted in a large-scale displacement across multiple regions in Lebanon, especially as people have been forced to flee their homes from southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and parts of the Bekaa Valley.
We have seen that entire families, including girls, boys, parents, and the elderly, have been stuck on the road until this minute. They have been trying to look for temporary shelter. Some of them have found temporary shelters in schools that have been opened by the government, some have found temporary shelters with extended family members or in informal settings, but many, many people remain to this day sleeping on the streets, or in their cars.”
Ziad Yaacoub, Program Manager at YARD, part of the Global Platform in Tripoli, Lebanon, said:
“Families have been internally displaced to collective shelters and households. They are in deep need of basic items that vary from sleeping kits, food and non-food kits, hygiene, dignity and even cooking kits. The internally displaced people left their houses in a hurry upon the strikes on southern Lebanon. They were not able to bring with them anything.”
These organizations are often the first to act in moments of crisis, drawing on their knowledge, trust, and networks to deliver support where it is needed most. ActionAid has launched an emergency appeal and is calling for urgent donations to help partners scale up their response and reach communities bearing the heaviest impact of the crisis.
Marianne Samaha added:
“The families that have fled their homes have left without their basic necessities, without their belongings, so the needs are extremely high. For women and girls, they have particular needs. Obviously, many women are pregnant, many women are currently lactating, they have fled with their newborns, with babies, with children. They need safe spaces where they can stay. And specifically with women and girls there is a high need for hygiene kits, for dignity kits and for menstrual pads.”
Sana Al Hyri, Head of Programs in the ActionAid Arab Region, said:
“Lebanon was already facing years of economic crisis and instability, and this latest escalation is pushing many families even closer to the edge. For women and girls in particular, displacement brings serious risks, with overcrowded shelters increasing the risk of harassment, exploitation and gender-based violence. Many families are struggling simply to afford food, healthcare and safe shelter as prices continue to rise.”
The military escalation is unfolding alongside the ongoing crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory. In Gaza, Israeli authorities have closed border crossings, severely restricting the entry of humanitarian assistance and essential supplies, further deepening an already catastrophic situation for civilians who have endured months of bombardment, displacement, and siege.
Read our previous statement in response to the crisis.
ENDS
Spokespeople are available.
For media requests, please email christal.james@actionaid.org or call 7046659743.
