“No system can cope”: Aid worker says Lebanon shelters overwhelmed with displaced people

2026-03-11 - 13:45

The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Lebanon amid the Middle East conflict is growing catastrophic, as hundreds of thousands of people are now displaced and scrambling for safety, according to a deputy coordinator at Doctors Without Borders. “No system can cope with such a big amount of displaced people,” Emmanuel Massart, who is stationed in Lebanon, told CNN’s Rosemary Church. “We are seeing shelters being improvised on a daily basis, with people only arriving with the clothes they have on their back and nothing more.” Earlier this week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel’s assault on Lebanon has displaced more than 600,000 people and killed more than 400, including scores of women and children. Massart said those in shelters are struggling because they are hungry, require medical care, and need to access basic commodities such as hygiene kits. Massart described a shelter he worked in this week holding 800 displaced people but providing only eight bathroom facilities between them. “It just doesn’t work,” he said. Massart said the aid group is providing support to people already in shelters and to displaced people in the community who have been unable to locate space in a shelter and are sleeping on the streets, following evacuation orders from their own homes.