GENEVA: More than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Lebanon by the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, the United Nations said Tuesday.
Israel is continuing to carry out air raids in Lebanon in a campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, particularly on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and the south of the country, after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.
"As of Monday, more than 31,000 people were being hosted and registered at collective shelters" in Lebanon, Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.
At a press conference in Geneva, he said many more "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut".
Baloch said others were attempting to leave on foot with limited belongings, seeking safety in other areas as the war triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran engulfs the region.
