Just hours earlier, the UN had Secretary-General António Guterreswarned the Security Council That “All hell breaks loose in Lebanon” along the UN-patrolled dividing line, with firefights greater in “scale, depth and intensity” than before.
That warning came as US President Joe Biden told world leaders at UN headquarters on Wednesday that a “total” war was possible between Hezbollah and Israel, while the UN refugee agency, UN refugee agencyreported that people were fleeing Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in the early morning hours of Thursday, in response to attacks on Israel, including an initial attempted rocket attack on Tel Aviv.
Peace mission chief warns of ‘extreme danger’
In a video message released in New York on Thursday, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said: “I am deeply concerned about the sharp escalation across the Blue Line. As the Secretary-General said last night at the Security Council: ‘All hell is breaking loose in Lebanon and we should all be alarmed by the escalation.'”
He stressed that both the Lebanese and Israeli people “are in extreme danger, with hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries in the past few days alone. Regional security and stability are at risk.”
“Literally thousands of families of Syrian and also Lebanese descent are crossing the border into Syria… they are women, children, men,” UNHCR representative in Syria Gonzalo Vargas Llosa said as the Israeli army announced strikes on more than 70 targets in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and in southern Lebanon, both areas considered Hezbollah strongholds.
Border stress
Standing among vehicles laden with belongings strapped to the roofs and scores of people waiting in long lines on the Syrian side of the border, Mr Vargas Lllosa said the UNHCR was working with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to provide water, food, blankets and mattresses – “because many of them will spend the night here at the border while they are being processed”.
According to media reports, a proposal for a 21-day ceasefire by the US, European allies including France and several Arab countries has been rejected by members of Mr Netanyahu’s government.
The latest data from Lebanon’s Interior Ministry indicates that 70,100 internally displaced people are now registered in 533 government-run centers. Some 500,000 people have been displaced after months of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanese authorities said.
UNHCR said it would continue to work closely with the authorities and other humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to people forced from their homes in Lebanon.Our teams are ready to assist more civilians displaced by the airstrikes, providing shelter, healthcare and psychosocial support,” the UN agency said on Thursday.
In solidarity with those affected by the strikes, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, appealed to for “more shelters and more funding” to provide crucial support to those in need. “We are on the ground distributing emergency relief kits, blankets, sleeping bags and dignity kits in IDP shelters. Our team is working tirelessly to support displaced families.”
Citing Lebanese authorities, the UNHCR said more than 90,000 people had been displaced since September 23 and that “more people are leaving their homes every minute”.
More than 600 people were killed and 1,835 wounded in the latest hostilities.