Women and children displaced by the conflict in southern Lebanon take shelter in a classroom at a school converted into a refuge in Sidon on March 3, 2026. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat / AFP)
Minister of Social Development, Haneen Sayed, said Tuesday that shelter centers in Beirut and Saida have reached full capacity, urging displaced residents to seek refuge in other regions such as Mount Lebanon, the North, and Akkar.
Lebanese authorities announced that more than 58,000 people have been forced to flee Israeli strikes across the country. According to the government’s Disaster Management Unit, the number of displaced has doubled compared to the figure reported the previous day.
"This is the second day of the emergency response to the recent aggressions against Lebanon. We are monitoring all developments in real time and working to meet needs across the entire territory," Sayed said during a press conference at the disaster management center.
She added that Prime Minister Nawaf Salam chaired a morning meeting to coordinate the response across all administrations and ministries before traveling to the operations room in Saida, in southern Lebanon, to monitor the situation on the ground.
According to Sayed, 58,064 people, or 12,539 families, are currently registered in the shelter centers. There are 321 centers open: 58 in Beirut, 126 in Mount Lebanon, 56 in the South, 4 in Nabatieh, 25 in the North, 33 in the Bekaa, 11 in Baalbeck-Hermel, and 8 in Akkar. On food assistance, the minister reported that approximately 23,000 hot meals have been distributed to date.
