Renewed hostilities in March 2026 triggered a rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon. Within the first week, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee from their homes. Humanitarian partners estimate that up to 1.3 million people could be directly affected over the next three months - including displaced families, people trapped in hard‑to‑reach areas, and host communities absorbing large numbers of new arrivals.
Airstrikes damaged residential buildings, schools, hospitals, and essential services. Public schools were rapidly repurposed as collective shelters, many reaching full capacity within days. Roads were damaged or cut off. Fuel shortages worsened. In this context, logistics it is a lifeline.
Standing Capacity Before the Crisis
As the crisis escalated, humanitarian actors confronted the most fundamental question of any response: How do we reach people when access itself is under threat?
The Logistics Cluster was activated to support partners in answering that question - by identifying logistics solutions, enabling shared services, and coordinating the logistics response and access in a rapidly shifting operational environment.
This was not the Cluster’s first activation in Lebanon. In October 2024, as violence intensified, the Logistics Cluster was activated to support partners through common services and logistics coordination, beginning with the rapid deployment of information management and coordination staff. The Cluster facilitated the movement of life‑saving food and relief items to areas where individual organisations could not operate alone.
When the situation temporarily stabilized, the Cluster transitioned into a Logistics Working Group, focused on strengthening national capacity, sustaining partnerships and keeping coordination mechanisms active.
That decision was critical. Because the situation deteriorated again in March 2026, the Cluster did not have to start from zero.
On 16 March 2026, the newly merged Logistics and Telecommunications Cluster (LTC) was formally activated. The merger of the Logistics Cluster and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster followed the 2025 humanitarian reset, bringing logistics and connectivity together to ensure humanitarian action can move, communicate, coordinate, and deliver.
The response that followed relied on existing coordination structures, tested systems, and trusted relationships – and on partners already familiar with working together under pressure.
The First Phase of the Response
Access quickly emerged as one of the defining challenges of this response. Southern Lebanon remained an active conflict zone. Roads were damaged. Debris and unexploded ordinance restricted movement. Coastal routes and key corridors linking the Bekaa Valley faced repeated disruption. Even when routes were open, security conditions could change within hours.
From the first days of activation, the LTC worked closely with local authorities, WFP Logistics, the OCHA Access Working Group, and the Humanitarian Notification Coordination Centre to triangulate access information, vetted routes, and prioritised locations based on needs and operational feasibility.
Operational tools were immediately mobilized. The LogIE physical access constraints mapping platform enabled partners to view and report live access constraints, supporting collective decision‑making in an environment where outdated information can put lives at risk.
Inter-Agency Convoys: Moving Lifesaving Cargo
Within the first month, ten coordinated convoys reached hard‑to‑reach areas, delivering blankets, mattresses, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, hygiene, health and dignity kits, as well as water and food assistance (parcels, ready-to-eat rations and wheat flour).
Each convoy required multi‑layered coordination. Destinations often lacked unloading equipment, storage capacity, or available labour. Security windows were narrow and unpredictable. Movements planned for weeks were frequently postponed at the last moment.
In total, 27 fully loaded convoys were prepared and ready - with cargo ready, routes analysed, and partners aligned, waiting for access to open. To provide necessary cargo consolidation and storage support to the humanitarian community, the LTC established a common warehouse in Karantina, Beirut generously donated by the UPS Foundation through the Logistics Emergency Team (LET) partnership and a warehouse in Zahle, enabling alternative routes - particularly to reach the south via the Bekaa when primary roads were closed.
Coordination Is the Difference
Keeping humanitarian cargo moving requires constant coordination from customs clearance and fuel tracking to real-time mapping of physical access constraints and coordinated planning.
Overall, 49 organizations were supported with coordination, information management and common logistics services to deliver assistance more effectively. None of this happens in isolation.
“Delivering humanitarian assistance to hard‑to‑reach areas in Lebanon requires more than just transport support,” reflects the Logistics Cluster Coordinator, Thomas van Ommen. “It demands joint planning, shared resources, and constant adaptation to security and significant operational constraints.”
Community as Readiness
The logistics response in Lebanon is not only about trucks, warehouses, or convoys. It is about community. A community of humanitarian actors that stayed connected between crises, maintained coordination mechanisms, and was ready to mobilise when conditions deteriorated.
In a country where shocks overlap and crises repeat, this continuity is operationally decisive.
Because when roads close, borders tighten, and access narrows, coordination is what keeps humanitarian assistance moving - and reaching people who need it most.
Read more on the Lebanon response on the Logistics Cluster Lebanon webpage.
