'Tens of thousands' of southern Lebanese find shelters farther north

Lebanese families displaced from villages farther south slept in shelters hastily set up in schools in Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon. Some who did not find shelter elsewhere slept in cars and parks and on the seaside corniche.

Monday’s heavy bombardment sent thousands fleeing from south Lebanon. Hotels in Beirut were quickly booked to capacity and apartments in the mountains surrounding the capital were snapped up by families seeking safe accommodations.

Some offered up empty apartments or rooms in their houses in social media posts, while volunteers set up a kitchen at an empty gas station in Beirut to cook meals for the displaced.

In the eastern city of Baalbek, the state-run National News Agency reported that lines formed at bakeries and gas stations as residents rushed to stock up on essential supplies in anticipation of another round of strikes on Tuesday.

The United Nations said that tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in Lebanon since Monday.

"Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow," U.N. refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva, adding that "the toll on civilians is unacceptable".