Beirut, Lebanon, June 11, 2026 — Recurring Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders for the entire city of Tyre have triggered widespread panic among residents, giving families little warning, few options to protect family members and no time to gather essential belongings. Many have already been displaced multiple times and exhausted every resource they have to survive.
IRC staff visited southern Lebanon last week to assess and respond to the vast needs there and found communities already at a breaking point. Most shops and businesses in Tyre were closed. In neighboring Saida, some people reported to have sold assets, gold, furniture, and other belongings, just to buy food, water, and medicine.
"Families in Tyre have already been forced to flee multiple times, depleted their savings, and sold whatever possessions they had left to survive," said Josephine Haddad, IRC Policy, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator in Lebanon. "I met Duha, a mother living in a shelter with her two children who had run out of money and was only able to give her children one meal a day. Before yesterday's orders, families were already struggling. Now they risk being cut off from any services.”
The toll is not only material. IRC staff and partners on the ground are reporting a sharp deterioration in people's mental health, severe depression, grief, and trauma stemming from the loss of loved ones, their sense of security and the relentless uncertainty of daily life in the south. Already, over one million people have been displaced in Lebanon, and this new wave of displacement will push more people into increasingly precarious and desperate situations, with nowhere safe to turn.
The IRC calls on all parties to ensure that civilians are protected and humanitarian operations in southern Lebanon can continue without interruption, including to those who remain in Tyre. Cutting off humanitarian access now would be catastrophic.
The IRC is scaling up its operations in Tyre and across southern Lebanon to reach people with what they need most. This includes cash assistance, support to health facilities, psychosocial support, and essential hygiene items that many families can no longer afford or find. As the situation deteriorates, the IRC will continue to do everything possible to reach those most in need.