Nearly 700,000 people have fled Lebanon in the last week.

JAKARTA - Nearly 700,000 people have been forced to flee across Lebanon in just over a week as the conflict escalates.

The representative of UNHCR in Lebanon, Karolina Lindholm Billing, told reporters in Geneva that the crisis quickly forced many families to leave their homes after the increase in Israeli air raids and evacuation warnings for residents issued on March 2 in more than 53 villages and densely populated areas.

"People's lives are changing drastically on a large scale," he said, quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Tuesday, March 10.

According to Lebanese authorities, more than 667 thousand people have registered on the government's online platform for refugee registration. The number increased by more than 100 thousand people in just one day and continues to grow.

Around 120,000 refugees are currently sheltering in collective shelters set up by the government, Billing said, while many others are staying with relatives or finding shelter after fleeing their homes with only a few belongings.

The Israeli attack also triggered cross-border movements towards neighboring Syria. Syrian authorities reported that more than 78 thousand Syrians and more than 7,700 Lebanese citizens have entered Syrian territory since the escalation of the conflict began, he said.

Billing said many families had experienced repeated displacement after the previous Lebanon-Israel conflict in 2024, which left civilians traumatized and fearful.

According to him, UNHCR has distributed around 168 thousand emergency aid to more than 63 thousand refugees in more than 270 shelter locations.

However, the agency warned that the humanitarian response for Lebanon had only received about 14 percent of the funding.

"Every day this conflict continues, the suffering is falling on hundreds of thousands of civilians, while Lebanon and the surrounding region are increasingly unstable," he said.

"Civilians must be protected at all times, and safe and unhindered humanitarian access must be ensured so that assistance can reach those most in need," he concluded.