More than 19,000 people were displaced in Lebanon as a result of the military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in the border area coinciding with the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, according to what the United Nations International Organization for Migration reported Monday.

The organization stated in a report that “a rise in incidents across the border between Israel and Lebanon” led to the displacement of 19,646 people “within the south and other areas of the country.”

The organization indicated an increase in the number of displaced people daily since the start of the escalation in Lebanon, the day after Hamas launched an unprecedented bloody attack on Israel on October 7, and Israel responded to it since then with violent bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip.

A regional spokesman for the organization, Muhammad Ali Abu al-Naga, told Agence France-Presse, “We expect an increase in numbers” if the situation continues or escalates further in the border region.

The majority of the displaced, according to Abu al-Naga, joined members of their families, while others took refuge in three schools that were turned into shelter centers in the southern city of Tyre.

An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported on three schools crowded with displaced people in Tyre, where the local authorities, which received more than four thousand displaced people, are working to open a new shelter center.

The Israeli army says it bombed two Hezbollah cells in Lebanon

For two weeks, the border area has witnessed an exchange of bombing, especially between Hezbollah and Israel, and Palestinian fighters have carried out several infiltration operations towards Israel.

The escalation resulted in the killing of 40 people on the Lebanese side, the majority of whom were Hezbollah fighters, in addition to 7 fighters from Palestinian factions and 4 civilians, including a photographer for the Reuters news agency.

At least 4 people were killed on the Israeli side, according to Agence France-Presse.

Abu Al-Naga warned, “In light of the economic deterioration and the significant increase in poverty rates...in Lebanon, displacement may increase pressure on the resources of host communities.”

He said, "The health sector is facing a severe shortage of resources, including medicines... in addition to doctors and nurses who left the country as a result of the economic crisis," adding, "In this context, the response to widespread displacement... may overwhelm an already fragile health system," according to Agence France-Presse.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Sunday that his government is working to develop an “emergency plan... out of caution” in case the situation worsens, although he referred to international, Arab and local contacts to work to “prevent the spread of the war” in Gaza to Lebanon.