In one situation update published on Monday the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 11 health workers had been killed and 10 injured between September 17 and 28. About 37 health centers have been forced to close due to the fighting among a total of 317 hospitals, and three hospitals treating patients have been evacuated.
“Many health workers have been displaced, especially in the south, Bekaa and south Beirut,” the WHO reported.
WHO continues to support Lebanon’s public health emergency response with human, financial and technical support, helps coordinate referrals and increases trauma surgery capacity.
Victims young and old
Among the victims of the weekend bombing was six-year-old Selena al Smarah, who was killed Saturday along with her parents at home in the southern city of Tyre. Her sister Celine, 10, survived but suffered injuries in the attack.
The sisters regularly attended an art workshop organized by the NGO Tiro Association for Arts, which has centers in Tire and Tripoli in the north.
In photos shared with UN News, a smiling Selena holds up one of her drawings from a workshop a day before the attack, while her sister explains in a short video how the sessions cheered her up and allowed her to get together with friends.
“We will continue our work for these children and young people in this time of war for as long as necessary,” said actor-director Kassem Istanbouli, who heads the volunteer group. The aim is to promote arts education in marginalized areas across Lebanon and build ties between divided communities.
Last year, Mr Istanbouli was the joint recipient of the UNESCO Sharjah Prize for Arabic culture. In 2021 UN Secretary General António Guterres recognized Mr. Istanbouli’s efforts to engage youth in positive change and to reopen theaters closed by the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Mr Istanbouli explained that the sisters attended workshops while their parents sold sweetcorn and beans at a small stall near the Lebanese National Theater in Tyre. “Every day she and her sister come to participate in the training workshop, and every day she said, ‘Professor Kassem, do we have a drawing class today?’ And she was happy when I said yes… the world should make sure there is accountability for this ugly crime against Selena.”
Exodus to Syria
Meanwhile, around 100,000 displaced people have reached neighboring Syria, according to the UN refugee agency. UNHCR.
“The outflow continues,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said in a tweet, accompanied by a photo of hundreds of people crowded together at a Syrian-Lebanese border crossing.
Mr Grandi noted that the agency’s teams were present at four border crossings in Syria to support new arrivals.
The development follows a dramatic escalation in hostilities between the Israeli army and the armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an attack on Friday.
On Monday, Hamas announced that its leader in Lebanon, Fatah Sherif al-Amin, had been killed along with his family in an airstrike on a refugee camp for Palestinians.
Humanitarian assistance is provided by the Refugee Agency, UNHCR and other UN agencies including UNRWAthe UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which has opened nine shelters for 3,350 people.
“UNRWA provides assistance in these shelters on the basis of impartiality and non-discrimination, sheltering Palestinian refugees, Lebanese and Syrian refugees and supporting anyone in need,” said UNRWA Lebanon spokesperson Fadi El Tayyar.
The UN Aid Coordination Office, OCHAsaid that 90 percent of the one million displaced people have fled their homes in the past week.
“The number of displaced people now exceeds the 2006 war, caused by intense Israeli attacks and orders for civilian evacuations,” OCHA said in a report. tweet.
Israeli strikes have killed 105 people across the country since Sunday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.