In a call for an end to the “killing, destroying (and) warlike behavior” of those in power, the UN Human Rights Office OHCHRsaid that the The situation for civilians on the ground “in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel and Syria is getting worse by the day.”
On Friday, the UN interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that two peacekeepers were injured “after two explosions” near a watchtower. On Thursday, some of the mission’s troops were injured “after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon at a watchtower in UNIFIL‘s headquarters in Naqoura, hitting it directly and causing them to fall,” the report said.
“These incidents once again put UN peacekeepers to work, serving in southern Lebanon at the request of the UN Security Council under resolution 1701 (2006), with a very serious risk.”
Beirut target
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani described in Geneva how the densely populated capital of Beirut “is increasingly hit by Israeli airstrikes” According to Lebanese authorities, more than 2,100 deaths have occurred in the past year.
The development comes as Hezbollah and other armed groups “continue to fire rockets into Israel, resulting in the first civilian casualties in the north since the most recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon last month,” the OHCHR spokesperson noted.
Health centers and aid workers have not been spared from the intensification of Israeli attacks. According to Lebanese authorities, 96 primary health care centers and clinics were closed as of October 5.
“We have also had several reports of airstrikes targeting other medical centers and of paramedics and firefighters killed,” Ms Shamdasani said.
According to the UN World Health Organization, 49 health workers have been killed in nine confirmed attacks since September 30.WHO).
Responding to reports that UNIFIL had come under fire from the Israeli army on Thursday, Ms Shamdasani stressed that states have an obligation under international law “to ensure that they are not hit, that they are protected”.
UN peacekeepers are stationed in southern Lebanon to support a return to stability under a 2006 Security Council mandate. Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution 1701, it said UNIFIL in a statement after the incident, amid the IDF’s widespread destruction of towns and villages in southern Lebanon and continued rocket attacks on northern Israel.
“On October 9 and 10, Hezbollah said it had launched at least 360 rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel,” Ms. Shamdasani said. “Two people were killed in a rocket attack on the border town of Kiryat Shmona on October 9, a day after five others were injured in a rocket attack on Haifa.”
Gaza: Polio vaccination concerns
Meanwhile, UN humanitarian workers in Gaza have continued to warn that the situation for civilians is getting worse as the Israeli army renews its advance north, where some 400,000 people face evacuation orders.
“Over the past week, the Israeli military has intensified operations in northern Gaza, further separating the area from the rest of the Gaza Strip and once again endangering the lives of civilians in the areas,” Ms. Shamdasani said. “In recent days, intense strikes, shelling, quadcopter shootings and ground raids have occurred, hitting residential buildings and groups of people, causing numerous casualties and renewed mass displacement of Palestinians in the area.”
As UN aid agencies and partners prepare to roll out the second phase of the mass polio vaccination campaign next week, the WHOThe UN Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, underlined the impact of a chronic lack of humanitarian access to the enclave and the north in particular.
“Many hospitals in the north are running out of fuel. Most UN and humanitarian missions do not take place in the north. They are running out of specific medical supplies and we have been in this crisis for a year,” Dr. Peeperkorn said, confirming that three aid missions north of Wadi Gaza did not make it this week. “So we ask again… that these humanitarian missions to the north, anywhere in the south, should take place.”