Middle East Crisis: MSF's Regional Emergency Response

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is alarmed by the dramatic escalation in conflict across the Middle East, following strikes by US and Israeli forces in Iran and Iran’s subsequent retaliatory actions across the region.

Across the Middle East, this escalation is deepening fear and insecurity for millions of people, including in Lebanon, Iran, and Gulf countries. Bombing continues across cities and villages, often affecting densely populated areas, with casualties rising and hundreds of thousands forced to flee. MSF calls for the protection of civilians, as well as hospitals, health facilities, and other essential infrastructure.

MSF already runs a wide network of medical and humanitarian programmes across the region including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen; providing essential healthcare to vulnerable populations affected by conflict, displacement, and limited access to services.

Across the region, our teams deliver a range of services including primary and secondary healthcare, surgical care, maternal and paediatric services, mental health support, treatment for chronic diseases, and water and sanitation interventions. We work through a combination of hospitals, primary healthcare centres, mobile clinics, and partnerships with local health authorities to reach communities in need.

MSF'S RESPONSE:

MSF teams across the region are fully mobilised, with additional emergency teams deployed in Lebanon, Armenia, and Iraq. Preparedness measures include contingency planning, close monitoring of the situation, pre-positioning of medical supplies, and deployment of mobile services to respond to growing needs.

In Lebanon, MSF has launched a nationwide emergency response, delivering large-scale distributions of shelter materials, water, and essential items to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, while adapting activities to maintain continuity of care and support health facilities receiving casualties.

Teams have deployed mobile clinics across multiple regions including Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and Akkar; to provide medical consultations and psychological first aid. MSF has also expanded services at its Burj Hammoud clinic in Beirut to increase patient access and is coordinating with health authorities to support hospitals if needs increase.

In Iran, MSF teams just received authorisation to scale up emergency medical care and operate its clinic around the clock to respond to conflict-related needs in Tehran. Other MSF programmes in Iran are focused on supporting vulnerable populations. MSF has already provided initial donations to the national emergency response, and we stand ready to scale up as needs evolve. A first truck carrying paediatric medical supplies has arrived in Iran, transporting a total of 1.5 tonnes as part of MSF’s efforts to sustain essential healthcare services.

Our emergency cells in the region are mobilised to ensure rapid coordination and response. MSF has shipped 42 tonnes of medical supplies to countries across the Middle East, including Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.

LEBANON RESPONSE:

Four weeks into the latest escalation in Lebanon, Israel's ongoing bombardment and the subsequent forced displacement of people is severely impacting people lives and their access to essential services.

Since 2 March, civilians have faced increasingly dire conditions, as a marked escalation of attacks by Israeli forces has forced more than one million people from their homes and disrupted their access to healthcare.

Despite forced displacement orders, many people have chosen to stay, rather than abandon their homes and villages, while others have had no choice due to socio-economic and medical vulnerabilities. This has made it extremely difficult for them to access medical care, and similarly difficult for medical and humanitarian workers to reach them.

Several hospitals in southern Lebanon remain functional and are providing initial emergency care and referrals. MSF is supporting these facilities with medical supplies, fuel for electricity, and essential relief items such as blankets and hygiene kits.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 3 April, more than 92 attacks on healthcare facilities have been reported, with 53 healthcare workers killed and another 137 injured. In addition, more than six hospitals have been forced to evacuate, and more than 51 primary health care centres across Lebanon have had to close, further limiting access to essential health services.

Lebanon Response between 2-30 March 2026

19 mobile clinics
11,966 medical consultations
2,262 sexual and reproductive health consultations
11,134 individuals in mental health consultations
18,310 individuals in health promotion sessions
20,394 blankets distributed
14,621 mattresses distributed
13,425 hygiene kits distributed
265,434 litres of safe drinking water distributed
7,989,000 litres of water trucked to shelters
10,000 litres of fuel distributed to two hospitals
379 staff in country

With over 6 million people displaced to date since the escalation, the scale of the need is growing rapidly as is MSF’s response. MSF was responding within hours to the emerging need - supporting vulnerable populations impacted by this crisis.

With your support, MSF will provide a comprehensive health response encompassing mobile clinics to reach displaced populations, emergency and trauma care, psychological first aid and mental health services, care for people with chronic illnesses, and access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Your support enables a principled humanitarian response, reaching all communities and nationalities based on need - regardless of status.

*Contributions to MSF through Benevity are directed towards our general fund, which is what we draw upon to deliver lifesaving healthcare wherever the needs are greatest.

We want to ensure we are accountable and using your gift where you intend, so please contact us if you would like to support our work in the Middle East directly.*

Image - Destroyed residential buildings in Beirut, Lebanon. March 14, 2026. Maryam Srour/MSF.