UN: Lebanon Returns Continue as $640 Million Aid Appeal Is 42.2% Funded
Displaced families are returning to conflict-affected areas of southern Lebanon, but the humanitarian crisis remains acute: more than 33,000 people were still living in 325 collective shelters during the week of July 9, 2026, the United Nations said.
The update reflects a partial change, not an end to the emergency. Returns have resumed in some areas following a ceasefire, while communities and families continue to need shelter, water, electricity, fuel and food-related assistance. The UN said returns must be safe, voluntary and dignified.
Relief operations continue in the south
Humanitarian partners facilitated more than 370 movements in southern Lebanon between March 2 and July 9. Those operations delivered assistance through more than 770 trucks, according to the UN.
The figures cover coordinated humanitarian activity in southern sectors, including Nabatieh, where communities faced shortages of water, electricity and fuel. The shortages illustrate why a return home does not necessarily mean that normal services have been restored.
More than 33,000 people remaining in collective shelters also shows that displacement has not been reversed across the affected areas. The UN did not provide a complete nationwide count of people who had returned home in its July 9 briefing, so the number of returnees cannot be measured against the shelter population from that update alone.
Funding remains far below the stated need
The revised Lebanon Flash Appeal seeks $640 million to support 1.4 million people through August 2026. As of July 9, the appeal was 42.2% funded.
That funding gap matters because humanitarian operations are continuing at the same time that displaced families are beginning to move. Aid agencies must support people who remain in shelters while also helping communities receiving returnees cope with shortages and damaged or inadequate services.
The appeal’s target represents a broad humanitarian requirement rather than a tally of people currently living in shelters. It includes people needing support through August, including those affected by displacement and conditions in communities receiving returning families.
Ceasefire created space for returns
In a June 4 statement, the UN welcomed a ceasefire announced after high-level Israeli-Lebanese talks. The organization called for compliance with the cessation of hostilities and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
The July 9 briefing indicates that the ceasefire has enabled some movement back toward southern communities. It does not establish that all ceasefire violations had ended, or that every return was safe or voluntary. The UN’s description of returns as a process that must be safe, voluntary and dignified sets the standard for how the next phase should be assessed.
For residents, the immediate question is whether homes and communities can support a durable return. Water, electricity and fuel shortages in Nabatieh point to practical barriers that go beyond the cessation of fighting. For aid agencies, the next challenge is sustaining deliveries and shelter support while financing remains less than half of the requested amount.
Humanitarian operations are expected to continue through the period covered by the appeal, which runs through August 2026. The UN’s latest figures leave the central picture clear: returns are taking place, but tens of thousands remain displaced and the response is operating with less than half of its requested funding.
Sources
- Noon briefing of 9 July 2026, United Nations Secretary-General
- Statement on the conflict in the Middle East, United Nations
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