War has already displaced nearly a million Lebanese, and aid groups warn of a humanitarian crisis

BEIRUT (AP) — Fatima Nazha slept on the street for two days after she and her family fled their home in Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli mass evacuation order.

All of the schools the government turned into shelters were full, and the family couldn’t afford a hotel or an apartment, so she and her husband eventually moved into a tent in the country's biggest stadium while their kids and grandchildren found shelter near the southern coastal city of Sidon.

In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced by war, just over a year since the last conflict uprooted over a million Lebanese from their homes. That’s one in every seven people in the tiny country, according to humanitarian organization the Norwegian Refugee Council. Many don’t have a place to stay, and the cash-strapped government has only been able to accommodate roughly 120,000 people as it scrambles to open shelters and bring in more supplies.

Nazha, who uses a wheelchair, said being forced from her home has been far more difficult this time than when Israel and Hezbollah were last at war more than a year ago. The strikes targeting the Iran-backed militant group have been more intense and unpredictable, and Israel's evacuation order came abruptly, leaving her unable to gather all her belongings.

“The strikes used to target a specific area, but now they’re hitting all the areas,” she said, taking a drag off her cigarette. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Friday that more than 700 people, including 103 children, have died in the war.

Israel ramped up its strikes on its northern neighbor after Hezbollah fired several rockets into Israel following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the war.

Most Lebanese were hoping Hezbollah wouldn't respond to the attack on Iran, as the militant group's support for another Iran-backed group, Hamas, in 2023 led to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Resentment toward Hezbollah and its backers has surged in Lebanon, as internal tensions and divisions in the deeply divided country continue to simmer.

Fearing becoming a target, landlords have been hiking apartment rents to dissuade new tenants. Hotels, meanwhile, have been vetting guests more strictly since Israel struck two hotel rooms, saying it was targeting Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who were operating in Beirut.

Some who don’t have family and friends to stay with or can't afford an apartment or a hotel room have been sleeping on the streets or in their cars around central Beirut, trading comfort for safety. That sense of safety was shattered, though, after an overnight Israeli strike killed at least eight people and wounded more than 30 others in the capital’s Ramlet el-Bayda neighborhood, where many displaced people pitched tents by the sea or slept on mattresses on the boardwalk.

Humanitarian groups, saddled by years of underfunding, are struggling to keep up. They warn of a humanitarian crisis.

“The needs are escalating much faster than our capacity to respond,” Mathieu Luciano, the head of the International Organization for Migration in Lebanon, said during a recent press briefing.

The government, meanwhile, is using Lebanon's largest sports stadium as a makeshift shelter, where Nazha, her husband and more than 800 other people have been sleeping in the semiopen corridors under the stands. It has toilets and sinks, but no showers and only sporadic electricity.

“It’s not enough that they bring us food. … A tin of sardines or a loaf of bread or a gallon of water, that’s not enough,” Nazha said Thursday from her foldout bed.

In the parking lot of the stadium where Lebanon's national soccer team regularly plays in peacetime, children played a pickup game as an Israeli drone flew overhead, recognizable by its whirring. From there, one can see and hear the bombs that have been exploding daily in nearby neighborhoods.

Naji Hammoud, who oversees sporting facilities for the Lebanese Youth and Sports Ministry, said he didn't expect to have to take on such a heavy responsibility.

“It’s a race against time,” Hammoud said as aid workers and volunteers scrambled to pitch tents.

More than a million people were displaced in the last war, but that was toward the end of it after a year of limited fighting that gradually escalated. This time, what took months took days.

Hezbollah's initial rocket attack followed by Israel's swift bombardments overnight rattled Lebanon and the mass evacuation notices caught people off-guard. Israel first called on dozens of villages south of the Litani River to flee north. It later warned residents to evacuate Dahiyeh, an area of predominantly Shiite suburbs on Beirut's southern edge that is one of the country's most densely populated places.

All of the main roads leading to the capital from southern Lebanon were gridlocked as people scrambled to find somewhere safe to stay.

“We were on the road for two days until we found this place here that accepted us,” said Seganish Gogamo, a worker from Ethiopia who fled the southern city of Nabatieh and found shelter in a Beirut church hosting migrant workers from Asia and Africa. She fled in the middle of the night after intense airstrikes.

There is no end in sight to the fighting, as some 100,000 Israeli troops have amassed along the U.N.-mandated Blue Line which divides the two countries in an anticipated ground invasion. Many fear the Israel-Hezbollah conflict could continue beyond the Iran war.

Joe Sayyah was among dozens of residents who remained in their border village, Alma al-Shaab, during the first few days of the war, hoping they wouldn't have to leave. It's a Christian village, and Israel has mostly targeted Shiite communities where Hezbollah operates.

Sayyah and others appealed to the Vatican and the U.S., describing themselves as bystanders in the conflict, insisting there was no military presence or activity among them. They also spent days sheltering in a church.

But when his friend was killed in an Israeli drone strike while watering his plants, they knew it was time to leave. He and the others rang the church bell one last time before they left for the capital in a convoy escorted by United Nations peacekeepers.

After arriving at a church in the northern outskirts of Beirut to hold a funeral Mass for his friend, Sayyah said the sense of relief that came with reaching somewhere safe was quickly replaced by the grim realization that this war could be different from the last.

“This time around, there’s a huge possibility we may not be able to go back to our village,” he said.

Associated Press reporters Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Fadi Tawil in Beirut contributed to this story.

A displaced migrant woman, who among many others who fled Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, sits with her children on mattresses at Saint Joseph Church, which has been turned into a shelter for displaced migrants, mostly from African nations, in Beirut, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A displaced woman who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sleeps on the ground at the Bir Hassan Technical Institute, which has been turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An elderly displaced woman who fled Israeli airstrikes with her family in southern Lebanon sits at the Bir Hassan Technical Institute, which has been turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Displaced children run between tents set up inside the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, which has been turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Displaced people fleeing Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, settle at the Bir Hassan Technical Institute, which has been turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

SAO PAULO (AP) — Oscar Schmidt, the Basketball Hall of Famer known to his Brazilian compatriots as the “Holy Hand,” died Friday. He was 68.

Schmidt’s family said in a statement that he fought a brain tumor for 15 years “with courage, dignity and resilience . . . while remaining a role model of determination, generosity and love of life. Oscar leaves a legacy that transcends sport and inspires generations of athletes and admirers in Brazil and worldwide.”

Earlier, Hospital e Maternidade Municipal Santa Ana in the city of Santana de Parnaiba, outside metropolis Sao Paulo, said Schmidt’s family requested privacy without elaborating.

Schmidt is beloved in Brazil for committing to the national team for 19 years and becoming one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history. He also starred in an historic victory over the United States in the final of the 1987 Pan American Games.

“The biggest player of Brazilian basketball history bids farewell as an absolute symbol of sport, the holder of a trajectory that redefined the boundaries of what was possible in a court,” the Brazil Basketball Confederation said in a statement. “His death closes an era. But his greatness remains.”

Schmidt, who didn't playing in the NBA, began his professional career in 1974 and most of it was at home and Italy, where he became a childhood idol of future great Kobe Bryant.

In 1984 the NBA’s New Jersey Nets drafted him in the sixth round and he trained with them but declined a contract. At the time NBA players were not allowed to play for national teams. Schmidt said he had no regrets at his Hall of Fame induction.

“I was the choice (No,) 144,” he said. His idol Larry Bird laughed next to him. “They came to offer me a no-cut contract to play for the New Jersey Nets. I said thank you very much but if I play one game here I will never again play for my national team.

“Three years later we beat the Americans here in the U.S. Sorry, that was the greatest thing I did in basketball.”

Bird released a statement Friday, saying: “I always admired Oscar and considered him a friend. He was, without a doubt, one of the greatest players to ever play the game. It was an honor of a lifetime when Oscar asked me to present him at his well deserved induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. My sincere condolences to Oscar’s family.”

Portland Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter and NBA champion Anderson Varejao, two Brazilians in the league, mourned Schmidt in their social media channels.

Standing 2.03 meters (6-foot-8), he was a keen 3-point shooter in the 1980s when many coaches advised against it. That earned him the nickname “Mão Santa” (Holy Hand). Schmidt didn’t believe he was worthy of the tag.

“I don’t have a holy hand. I have a trained hand,” Schmidt used to say in interviews.

He debuted for Brazil at 19 in 1977 and made 326 appearances, averaging 23.6 points per game.

He played in a record-tying five Olympics and four World Cups. He’s the all-time leading scorer in both tournaments. He still has seven of the 10 highest scoring games in Olympic history and he holds the single-game records for points scored in the Olympics (55 vs. Spain in 1988) and World Cup (52 vs. Australia in 1990).

“More than results and medals, Oscar represented values that define the Olympic spirit; dedication, resilience and respect to the opponents,” Brazil’s Olympic committee said in a statement.

The 1987 Pan Am Games victory in Indianapolis marked the first time a U.S. team lost a major international tournament on home soil. Brazil won 120-115 and Schmidt led with 46 points.

Schmidt retired in 2003 at 45. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be the unofficial career highest scorer and his known tally of 49,737 points for club and country was eclipsed by LeBron James in 2024.

“For decades, he united the country around the courts with unforgettable shots and indisputable leadership,” Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on social media. “His dedication elevated the name of the country and made him an inspiration for generations of athletes and sports lovers.”

Schmidt was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

After retirement, Schmidt became one of his country’s most popular motivational speakers. He often talked about his battle with the brain tumor diagnosed in 2011, his love for Brazil and basketball.

Schmidt is survived by wife Maria Cristina Victorino, whom he married in 1981, and two children. One of them, Filipe, spoke about his father’s death on social media.

“Now you rest in peace, dad. You are in the hall of fame of life,” he said.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - Brazil's Oscar Schmidt (14) drives past Scottie Pipen (8) of the United States during the quarterfinals of basketball competition at the Centennial Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, July 30, 1996. Schmidt, whom his Brazil compatriots know as the “Holy Hand,” died. Friday, April 17, 2026. He was 68. (AP Photo/Hans Deryk, File)

FILE - Brazil's former basketball player Oscar Schmidt shows a miniature basketball containing the name of a country during the draw for the London 2012 Olympic men's basketball tournament in Rio de Janeiro, April 30, 2012. Schmidt, whom his Brazil compatriots know as the “Holy Hand,” died. Friday, April 17, 2026. He was 68. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)

FILE - Inductee Oscar Schmidt, of Brazil, speaks during the enshrinement ceremony for this year's class of the Basketball Hall of Fame, at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 8, 2013. Schmidt, whom his Brazil compatriots know as the “Holy Hand,” died. Friday, April 17, 2026. He was 68. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - Inductee Oscar Schmidt, of Brazil, speaks during the enshrinement ceremony for the 2013 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Mass., Sept. 8, 2013. Schmidt, whom his Brazil compatriots know as the “Holy Hand,” died. Friday, April 17, 2026. He was 68. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)