Over 800,000 Displaced in Lebanon from Renewed Israel Conflict

In the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, Hussain Murtada and his family of seven huddled in the back of a small truck on Sunday, using a flimsy tarpaulin to shield themselves from heavy rain after fleeing their home near the Israeli border. Their story highlights the desperate conditions facing more than 800,000 displaced Lebanese, about 15 percent of the country's population, as a renewed conflict with Israel escalates just 15 months after the previous Israel-Hezbollah war.

The displacement began on March 2, when the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with its ally Iran, prompting Israel to initiate an offensive in southern Lebanon. Many families, like Murtada's from the town of Hanawiya, about 12 kilometers from the border, have sought refuge in overcrowded schools and other collective shelters. However, Lebanese authorities report that only 132,000 people are in such facilities, leaving the majority to improvise accommodations with relatives, in half-finished buildings, or even on the streets.

Murtada described the struggle as he fastened the plastic sheet over the truck parked on the seafront. "We are putting tarp over it because we're soaked,"...