Lebanon is facing a deepening humanitarian catastrophe, with Israeli military strikes destroying infrastructure, killing medical workers, and forcing an estimated one in five Lebanese people from their homes since fighting intensified in March. A Lebanese government minister has warned that the country will need at least one billion dollars simply to keep the humanitarian situation from collapsing entirely.

The scale of the destruction is visible across southern Lebanon. In Nabatieh, a city on the country's southern edge that was once a busy urban centre, paramedics continue working amid ruins. At one devastated ambulance station, a first responder recounted how a colleague was killed by an Israeli strike while speaking on the phone to his wife — a moment that captures the personal toll of a conflict that has gutted civilian services. Medical workers say they have seen no evidence to support Israeli claims that ambulances and health facilities are being used by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant and political group that has been fighting Israeli forces.

Israel's military, known as the IDF, has maintained that some medical infrastructure is being exploited for military purposes. The IDF stated on Sunday that its troops killed more than 20 Hezbollah fighters operating from within a hospital compound in Bint Jbeil, a southern town that was also the site of intense combat during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Lebanon's health ministry flatly denied the claim, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and protected medical sites in violation of international humanitarian law.

The financial dimension of the crisis adds another layer of severity. With displacement on a massive scale, medical networks under attack, and basic services strained, Lebanese officials say external funding is urgently needed just to maintain current relief efforts — not to rebuild, but simply to prevent further deterioration. Lebanon was already grappling with a prolonged economic collapse before the latest round of fighting began, leaving the state with almost no fiscal buffer to absorb the shock.

The situation underscores the growing vulnerability of civilian populations caught between military operations and institutional failure. For international humanitarian organisations and donor governments, the crisis presents an urgent call: without significant financial intervention and pressure to protect medical workers and facilities, conditions on the ground are likely to worsen considerably in the weeks ahead.