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Rescue workers survey the damage in the town of Toul in Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate in the south, following bombing by Israel in response to rocket attacks by militant group Hezbollah. Credit: Action Against Hunger

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Apr 20 2026 (IPS)

Aid groups have welcomed a ten-day ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon but warn only a permanent halt to fighting can allow for the kind of response needed to address the dire humanitarian situation in the country.

A ten-day truce ​to enable peace negotiations between the two countries came into effect on April 16. It can be extended by mutual agreement by both sides after that period.

The ceasefire comes after more than a month of conflict following Israel’s response to rocket attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Since March 2, more than 2,000 people have been killed and 7,000 wounded in Israeli attacks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1.2 million – one fifth of the estimated total population – are internally displaced, including over 400,000 children, according to humanitarian organisations, and Israeli strikes have destroyed essential civilian infrastructure and heavily affected healthcare services.

This has deepened what was already a fragile humanitarian situation following years of economic problems, a Syrian refugee crisis, and previous conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

And while the attacks may have stopped, many people continue to face displacement, massive destruction and a lack of access to basic services and real relief will only come with a long-term end to fighting.

“We welcome the truce as a critical pause in violence, but it is not enough. Only a permanent ceasefire will allow for a response at the scale required—one that reaches families across all of Lebanon, including those in border areas who remain among the most vulnerable,” Suzanne Takkenberg, Lebanon Country Director of humanitarian group Action Against Hunger (ACF), told IPS.

Following the announcement of the truce, there have been reports of huge numbers of displaced people returning to their home towns. Aid groups have warned, though, that many are likely to return to find they have no homes left, or even if they do, conditions are so bad it will be impossible to remain there.

“Families are beginning to return to their homes, but the scale of destruction is staggering. Many are finding their houses damaged or completely destroyed, with no access to water, electricity, or basic services. People who fled with almost nothing are now returning to even less—facing conditions that make dignified living impossible,” said Takkenberg.

The destruction has been worst in the south of the country. Israel has been looking to create what it has called a “security zone”, keeping troops in an area around 10 kilometres deep inside southern Lebanon. Reports suggest many villages in that area have been utterly destroyed.

Recent, intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Tyre, Lebanon, causing significant casualties and damage to residential areas and infrastructure. The strikes were part of an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Credit: Action Against

“This new buffer zone that Israel is talking about – from videos I’ve seen, it’s completely demolished. We don’t expect them to allow [people] to return there, and I don’t think people will be trying to move back to that buffer zone,” Elizabeth Cossor, Head of Country Office Lebanon at Terre des hommes, which is providing humanitarian aid to children and their families in the country, told IPS.

“Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to remain displaced. They’re not going to be able to return. That’s really devastating [for them],” she added.

The impacts of the attacks on civilians have alarmed rights groups and humanitarian organisations.

A coalition of NGOs last week released a report documenting the effects of Israeli attacks on the civilian population.

It highlighted how the continued displacement in the country is driving significant health and protection risks, with women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities disproportionately affected.

Reports indicate high instances of respiratory infections due to cold temperatures in collective shelters, gastroenteritis cases linked to insufficient food and cooking facilities, and disruption to treatment for patients with chronic diseases. Shelters are invariably overcrowded and lack adequate water and sanitation infrastructure, severely limiting privacy, dignity and psychological safety for residents, the group said. Moreover, roughly 88% of those displaced are living outside collective shelters, many in cars, public spaces or other insecure settings, the groups said.

Children have been impacted especially hard by the fighting.

Aid groups working with children have highlighted serious problems with child nutrition. According to Action Against Hunger, while 24 percent of the population faces acute food insecurity, around 15 percent of children aged 6 to 23 months in displacement zones are being fed only milk.

Meanwhile, one in five children in Lebanon has been forced from their homes by the conflict, with many suffering acute psychological distress and anxiety, according to UNICEF.

“The humanitarian situation for children in Lebanon is severe and deeply alarming. Over the past 46 days, children have paid a devastating price, with reports of at least 172 children killed and 661 injured. More than 415,000 children have been displaced, some for the third or fourth time. Their most urgent needs are safety, healthcare, safe water, nutrition, psychosocial support, child protection and access to learning,” Ricardo Pires, Communication Manager at UNICEF, told IPS.

“Children have been uprooted repeatedly, many are under acute stress, and essential services have been badly disrupted. The health system is still operating, but under severe strain. Hospitals and health workers have come under repeated impact, facilities have been damaged or forced to close, and access to care is increasingly difficult in high-risk and isolated areas. The destruction already caused to homes, schools, hospitals, water systems and roads means many children and families are likely to face serious hardship for some time, even if the fighting stops. It continues to have serious humanitarian consequences for children and families,” he added.

Cossor said the conflict could have a long-term impact on a generation of Lebanese kids.

“We still don’t have a sense of just how many children have lost their parents, their caregivers. We’re visiting hospitals where children are waking up and discovering that they’ve lost their parents and, you know, it’s just devastating. For those who also cannot return to their childhood home, you know, they’re not in school, missing family, they’ve lost their homes…. They’re losing part of their childhood, their connection to the place of their family, the place of their community. This has very long-term impacts for children,” she said.

As well as highlighting the harm caused to the civilian population, the NGOs’ report pointed to serious concerns regarding compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), particularly the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attacks. Likewise, IHL affords special protection to medical and humanitarian personnel and infrastructure, yet the conflict has been marked by a concerning number of attacks affecting healthcare and growing restrictions on humanitarian access, the groups said.

They also called for adherence to the IHL by all parties to the conflict, as well as urgent, sustained, and flexible funding from the international community to support the growing needs of displaced persons and those remaining in vulnerable areas.

International help will be vital given the damage that has been done, no matter what efforts the Lebanese government makes to help the population.

“The government will repair things as best they can in the cities that are north – again, north of that buffer zone area. They will do their best to restore, rehabilitate, but services will be heavily impacted. Eight bridges [in southern Lebanon] have now been destroyed, and Lebanese forces have managed to sort of put rubble together so that the last destroyed bridge is passable one car at a time. But that’s not enough to start bringing big trucks of humanitarian assistance or to start bringing in food and vegetables and other medical supplies and other things that they need in the south,” said Cossor.

“Infrastructure is destroyed, including in heavily populated areas. The Lebanese government will need enormous assistance to restore this infrastructure,” she added.

Beyond these problems, another major concern is the fragility of the current ceasefire – within hours of it coming into force, there were reports of violations.

UNICEF’S Pires said the ceasefire offered a critical opportunity to improve humanitarian access and begin restoring basic services in all areas impacted by the recent attacks. He warned, though, that if it collapsed, there would be “a grave risk of further killing, injury, displacement and trauma”.

“The weapons must remain silent and humanitarian access and workers must be protected at all times,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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