Get you up to speed: Over 1.2m in Lebanese expected to face acute hunger
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture report that 1.24 million people in Lebanon are expected to face food insecurity at crisis levels or worse between April and August 2026.
This is attributed to “conflict, displacement and economic pressures” amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
It is reported that 1.24 million people are at crisis levels or worse between April and August, marking a significant increase from the 874,000 people affected prior to the conflict. According to Allison Oman Lawi, the WFP’s country director in Lebanon, escalating violence is pushing families back into crisis as food becomes increasingly unaffordable.
The report predicts that without sustained humanitarian and livelihood support. Nora Ourabah Haddad, the FAO representative in Lebanon, emphasised the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers.
Over 1.2 Million in Lebanon Face Acute Hunger Amid Ongoing Conflict
FAO, WFP and Lebanon’s government say 1.24 million people are ‘expected to face food insecurity’ at crisis levels or worse.
Displaced people who fled Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit outside shelter tents in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 24, 2026 [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]
More than 1.2 million people in Lebanon are expected to face acute hunger this year due to “conflict, displacement and economic pressures” amid the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a United Nations-backed report.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture issued a joint statement on Wednesday, saying that 1.24 million people were “expected to face food insecurity” at crisis levels or worse between April and August.
Over 20% of the population will face acute hunger
The figure, contained in a report conducted by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed group that monitors hunger and malnutrition, marks a “significant deterioration” compared with the outlook before the war erupted on March 2, said the statement.
Prior to March, “an estimated 874,000 people, roughly 17 percent of the population, were experiencing acute food insecurity“, it said. But a “sharp escalation in violence” had “reversed recent food security gains in Lebanon and pushed the country back into crisis”.
“Families who were just managing to cope are now being pushed back into crisis as conflict, displacement and rising costs collide, making food increasingly unaffordable,” said Allison Oman Lawi, the WFP’s country director in Lebanon.
Nora Ourabah Haddad, the FAO representative in Lebanon, said, “Compounded shocks are undermining agricultural livelihoods and impacting food security, highlighting the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers and prevent further deterioration.”
A ceasefire that took effect on April 17 has reduced the intensity of the fighting between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,500 people in Lebanon and displaced more than one million, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israeli forces are operating in south Lebanon near the border, where residents have been warned not to return, and both sides have been trading fire despite the truce.
“Acute food insecurity is likely to deepen without sustained and timely humanitarian and livelihood support,” the statement said.
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