“Today, Israeli airstrikes again hit the town of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon… As the theater and intensity of the firefights continues to expand, Suffering among citizens is reaching unprecedented levels,” said the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert a statement.
Five people were killed in the attack and there are reports that the mayor or Nabatieh was among the dead, along with a humanitarian first responder, the senior UN official added.
Diplomacy call
“Military solutions will not and cannot bring security to both sides of the Blue Line,” Ms Hennis-Plasschaert stressed, referring to the UN-monitored dividing line between Lebanon and Israel, where several peacekeepers have been injured in incidents involving Israeli forces the past few days.
“It is time for all actors involved to immediately cease fire and open the door to diplomatic solutions able to realize the needs of citizens and promote regional stability,” she added.
Echoing these concerns, the top UN aid official in Lebanon, Imran Riza, underlined how the intensification of Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks has caused “widespread civilian casualties, mass displacement and extensive destruction across the country.”
The conflict has exposed healthcare and frontline workers to attacks, Mr Riza continued, along with civil protection centers and water supply systems. These have been “pushed to the brink of collapse,” he said. “This has to stop.”
‘Breakpoint’ in Syria
In a related development, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said that Syrians hosting an influx of people fleeing war in Lebanon are now at a “breaking point.”
In a call for international support to tackle “the escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria” linked to the war in Lebanon, WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said some 260,000 people have now crossed into Syria to escape bombings and Israeli military ground operations.
Funding shortfalls earlier this year forced the UN agency to cut aid to the same families now helping those displaced from Lebanon.
“WFP is deeply concerned about the deterioration of food security in Syria,” Mr Skau said. “More than half of the population in Syria already faces food insecurity, with approx three million people in the grip of severe conditions of hunger. Syrians – struggling to cope – are stepping in to accommodate families escaping the violence in Lebanon, making the difficult situation even more critical.”
More to come…