More than 2,000 Lebanese have been killed and nearly 10,000 injured since Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza began a year ago, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israel has intensified its bombing campaign across Lebanon after the killing of Hezbollah’s leader last month and the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israeli cities, in an effort to allow some 60,000 Israelis to return to their homes in the north, where missiles were fired by the UN. The dividing line guarded by the Blue Line has led to mass evacuations on both sides.
UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi, who arrived in the capital Beirut on Saturday, said hundreds of thousands have been left destitute in recent days and called for an immediate ceasefire.
Two weeks of deadly Israeli airstrikes have forced more than a million people to flee their homes. Mr Grandi visited Beirut to express his solidarity with Lebanon and to mobilize greater support for all those affected, both Lebanese and refugees.
© UNHCR
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visits Lebanon on a solidarity mission as humanitarian needs increase.
Tragic toll
The conflict ravaging the country is disrupting urgently needed supply shipments, UNHCR said, calling for the maintenance of supply routes within and to Lebanon so that the flow of aid can continue.
During his visit, Mr Grandi met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other senior officials, along with senior humanitarians, UNHCR staff and displaced families.
“Today I have witnessed the tragic toll this war is taking on entire communities,” said Mr Grandi.
“International humanitarian law must be respected and cannot be ignored. Families have been left homeless, stranded in the open, with traumatized children who do not understand what is happening. They all told me how desperate they are to feel safe, and for the airstrikes to stop so they can return to their towns and villages.”
He said it was an “urgent moral imperative to help the people affected by this recent escalation. They must not pay the price for the appalling inability to find political solutions and end this vicious cycle of violence. Now, in this hour of overwhelming need, the world must come to Lebanon’s aid.”
With large numbers of displaced people displaced across the country in just two weeks, government-run shelters have been overwhelmed and UNHCR is working with humanitarian partners and authorities to urgently find safe shelter for those forced to flee.
UNHCR assistance
UNHCR also provides people with essential relief supplies, cash assistance, shelter assistance, medical care and other support. But the international community must significantly increase funding so that humanitarian organizations can respond adequately, the organization said on Sunday.
UNHCR has launched an appeal for $111 million to help one million displaced people in Lebanon by the end of 2024, as part of a broader UN appeal for $425.7 million.
Mr. Grandi’s visit to Lebanon included a meeting with displaced Syrian refugees in Beirut’s Nabaa neighborhood.
“I deeply appreciate Lebanon’s generosity in hosting so many refugees over the years – including those forced to flee Syria – despite the significant challenges the country has faced. These refugees are now forced to flee again with few resources and nowhere safe to go.”
UNIFIL warning
The UN peacekeeping mission patrolling the Blue Line and providing support to civilians in southern Lebanon, UNIFILhas expressed his deep concern about military activities of the Israeli army near one of the mission positions on Lebanese territory.
UNIFIL has said all its peacekeepers remain in place at observation points and bases along the dividing line, in line with their UN mandate.
“The IDF has been repeatedly informed of this ongoing situation through regular channels. This is an extremely dangerous development,” UNIFIL said in a tweet.
“It is unacceptable that the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their mission is endangered Security Council-mandated tasks.”
UNIFIL reminded all combatants of their obligations to protect UN personnel and property.
In an update on the situation facing Irish military personnel serving with UNIFIL, the Irish Army said in a post on