BEIRUT, Lebanon: An estimated 800,000 people have been affected in Lebanon by the current crisis, with hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes, according to the Lebanese Higher Relief Council established by the Lebanese government to deal with the crisis.

Some 100,000 were foreigners who were evacuated, including some Lebanese with dual nationality. Around 150,000 more people, mainly Syrian, Lebanese and other foreigners, crossed the border into Syria since the Israeli attacks began on 12 July, a spokeswoman for the Council, Mouna Souccarieh said.

According to Souccarieh, an estimated 550,000 people have been displaced inside the country of which 106,780 are staying in government schools and buildings. She said the rest were staying with relatives, or renting houses or paying for rooms in hotels.

Most of the internally displaced are said to be Lebanese, but there are also about 20,000 third country nationals, and some 1,000 displaced Palestinians.

While there is no complete breakdown of the areas in which the internally displaced are living, figures available suggest 32, 465 are in Beirut; 42,271 in Mount Lebanon; 3,370 in north Lebanon; 24,151 in southern Lebanon and 4,523 in the eastern Beka Valley.