Middle East: Assistance for Lifeline Emergency Response and Targeted Support (ALERT)

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As of March 2026, the humanitarian situation in Lebanon and the wider Middle East has deteriorated sharply, reaching a critical point following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent escalation of violence across the region. The intensification of bombardments in Lebanon has triggered large-scale internal displacement, with more than 700,000 people on the move and projections indicating that up to one million individuals may be forced to flee from southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut in the coming days.

This new wave of displacement compounds an already severe and protracted crisis. Lebanon continues to host the world’s highest number of displaced people per capita while grappling with the long-lasting impacts of the 2019 economic collapse, the Beirut port explosion, and the ongoing depreciation of the Lebanese Pound, which pushed inflation to unprecedented levels in recent years.

Essential services are overstretched, shelters are overcrowded, and growing numbers of families seek refuge in temporary or makeshift conditions. Against this backdrop of conflict, economic fragility, and deepening humanitarian needs across Lebanese, Syrian, and migrant communities, immediate assistance is essential to protect civilians and support their survival and wellbeing.

Caritas Switzerland is rapidly mobilizing emergency support to address the urgent needs of households across Lebanon by providing critical supplies and urgent humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities.

Caritas Switzerland is providing critical supplies and essential humanitarian assistance to communities affected by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In close collaboration with AMEL Association and Caritas Lebanon, the response delivers emergency and transitional aid to internally displaced people and affected residents living inside temporary shelters, mainly public schools, as well as outside shelters.

Support is provided through a combination of in-kind distributions that include hygiene kits, food parcels, ready-to-eat meals, mattresses, blankets, and pillows. The response also provides access to primary and mental health services delivered in health centers and through mobile clinics. These services include medical consultations, diagnostic support, medication, antenatal care, malnutrition screening, health-promotion activities, and referral pathways to specialized health and social services.

Overall, the response aims to reach 12,725 unique beneficiaries with immediate, targeted, and life-saving support.

This approach ensures the rapid provision of life-saving support while ongoing assessments allow the intervention to adapt as needs evolve. Caritas Switzerland and its partners tailor assistance to the specific circumstances of affected communities and continue to assess the potential for expanding ALERT to additional countries in the region as the situation develops.