Hajjar: Beirut 'cannot absorb' such a large number of displaced people

As Israeli bombing intensifies across Lebanon, displacing more than 822,600 people since March 2, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said Friday, after a meeting of the Central Security Council, that "the greatest possible number of shelter centers has been opened in Beirut," and that efforts are ongoing to find other locations, while emphasizing that "the capital cannot absorb" such a large number of people.

"The greatest possible number of shelter centers has been opened in Beirut and efforts are ongoing to find additional reception locations, but the capital cannot absorb the large number of displaced people," Minister Hajjar said. "We are holding daily meetings with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet at the Grand Serail," he added, calling on the population "to show responsibility in order to avoid any reaction that could provoke internal tension."

Mr. Hajjar stressed that the priorities of his ministry "are to accompany population displacements and to strengthen security measures," while indicating that "prosecutions and arrests will be made in the event of any breach of security, and the state is deploying all its efforts in this direction." He clarified that discussions during the Central Council meeting focused on "everything that can be done to strengthen these measures on the ground to ensure a minimum of security despite the war."

The Interior Minister further assured that "all state services are mobilized to monitor the evolution of the situation, and the entire people must rally behind the president of the republic, the head of government, and the president of parliament, in order to support diplomatic efforts to enable Lebanon to emerge from the crisis."

In the latest report published Wednesday evening, Lebanese authorities counted 122,600 people in the 4,580 available shelter centers, while evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army cover increasingly wide areas in southern Lebanon, in addition to orders covering the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs and part of the Bekaa.