Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are facing worsening living conditions as severe funding cuts cripple the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), while Israel’s ongoing aggression across the region adds to the hardships confronting an already vulnerable population.
In Beirut’s Bourj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Doumoua al-Baitan, a divorced mother of four, said overcrowded classrooms have made it increasingly difficult for children to benefit from their education.
“My kids cannot retain what they are taught in class,” she told Al Jazeera, explaining that she now pays $200 a month for after-school lessons for two of her children, the same amount as her monthly rent.
The crisis has intensified since the Trump administration maintained its freeze on US funding for UNRWA in February 2025, further undermining the agency’s ability to deliver essential services across Palestinian refugee camps.
UNRWA spokesperson Fadi al-Tayyar told Al Jazeera in October that the agency needed an additional $70 million to $80 million for 2026. The funding shortage has forced a 20 percent reduction in service hours since February.
Consequently, schools have reduced the academic week from five days to four for the 2026-27 school year, while healthcare facilities have also been forced to suspend operations. Of 26 primary healthcare centres and clinics, only 15 remained operational in June 2026.
Deepening economic and social crisis
Lebanon has 12 Palestinian refugee camps, home to a substantial proportion of the country's approximately 230,000 Palestinian refugees, most of whom remain effectively stateless and face restrictions on employment in professions including medicine, law, engineering and pharmacy.
The situation is particularly difficult for undocumented refugees and an estimated 19,000 Palestinians who fled Syria's 13-year war and subsequently faced restrictions on residency renewals, employment and access to public services.
Meanwhile, deteriorating economic conditions have contributed to growing social problems inside the camps.
“There is a very tired economic situation and there is no work,” said Fadi Abu Halawa, a security officer at the Jafra Foundation in Beirut, pointing to increased crime and drug use and distribution.
Israeli attacks compound refugee suffering
Beyond the economic crisis, Israel's military aggression against Lebanon has further endangered Palestinian refugees, particularly those living in camps in the country's south.
Five Palestinian refugee camps are located in southern Lebanon and have faced displacement and Israeli attacks.
In February, Israeli strikes killed 12 people across Lebanon, including two in Ein el-Hilweh, the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon. Three months earlier, an Israeli attack had killed at least 13 people, including 11 children playing football inside the densely populated camp.
The threat of further Israeli military operations has raised fears of another wave of displacement.
According to Jafra's October report, southern camps have experienced growing insecurity amid the Israeli regime's military escalation, with residents increasingly concerned that attacks could reach their communities.
The report also warned that UNRWA's funding crisis threatens education, healthcare, water and sanitation services for Palestinian refugees across its five areas of operation: Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The deteriorating situation comes as Palestinians continue to endure the consequences of Israel's occupation, the genocide in Gaza and repeated military assaults, while international funding cuts further weaken the institutions responsible for supporting refugee communities.