BRUSSELS

More than 800,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon following "evacuation orders" by Israel, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Thursday.

IOM Director General Amy Pope said she was "gravely alarmed" by reports that a strike hit displaced people sheltering in the Lebanese capital, killing at least eight and injuring dozens.

"Civilians and civilian objects must never be deliberately targeted; their places of shelter, and related infrastructure must never be the target of military hostilities," stressed Pope.

The UN migration agency said nearly 1 million people have fled their homes amid escalating hostilities and evacuation orders across the country.

About 125,000 are staying in collective shelters run by the government, while many are being hosted by relatives, friends and local communities.

Thousands more remain without adequate shelter, including families sleeping on the streets.

Many of the displaced arrived in Beirut with little more than the clothes they were wearing and are now living in tents or makeshift shelters that offer little protection from bombardment.

Pope warned that urgent assistance is needed to prevent a deeper humanitarian crisis.

"International Humanitarian Law requires parties to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to civilians in need. This must be respected now," she said.

On March 2, the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, began attacking Israeli military sites in response to repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the killing of Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike.

Israel retaliated by launching a military campaign against Lebanon, carrying out airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas in the south and east. On March 3, it began a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.