The border area has seen a surge of violence since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in early October, with tit-for-tat exchanges of fire continuing today between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Lebanese ally of Palestinian group Hamas.

In a report published yesterday, the IOM said that the escalation has displaced 76,018 people, mainly in areas of southern Lebanon bordering Israel.

More than 80% of the displaced Lebanese are staying with relatives, according to the report, and only 2% are housed in 14 collective shelters spread across the south of the country, mainly in the coastal city of Tyre and in the Hasbaya region.

The rest have rented apartments or moved to homes in areas farther from the border, the UN agency said.

Cross-border violence has left 175 people dead in Lebanon, including 129 Hezbollah fighters and more than 20 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP count.

In northern Israel, nine soldiers and five civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

Hezbollah, which conducts daily operations against Israeli soldiers along the border, says it is intervening in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Tensions rose further with a strike on Tuesday that killed Hamas’s No 2, Saleh al-Arouri, in a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the assassination, widely attributed to Israel, “will not go unpunished”.

Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas following the unprecedented Oct 7 attack on Israel which left around 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.