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“We are gravely concerned by the widening hostilities in the Middle East and their potential to engulf the entire region in a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe,” she said.
“The prospects that the situation may deteriorate further with terrible impact on civilians, and that it could rapidly expand to embroil other States in the region, are real,” Throssell said.
“With armed violence between Israel and Hezbollah boiling over, the consequences for civilians have already been terrible – and we fear a large-scale ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon would only result in greater suffering,” she said.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have reportedly killed over 1,000 people in the past two weeks alone. Hundreds of thousands have also been displaced in Lebanon, alongside those recently fleeing into Syria, and over 60,000 have been displaced in Israel since Hezbollah’s escalation of missile fire from October 8 last year.
Even before the most recent escalation in mid-September, tens of thousands of homes across Lebanon had been reportedly damaged or destroyed by attacks. Medical facilities have been damaged, with 10 per cent of health centres in Lebanon closed. Forty-one medical workers have been reportedly killed and 111 wounded since October 2023, with 14 killed in the last two days alone. Twenty-five water facilities have been damaged impacting nearly 300,000 people. Schools and nurseries have been closed, and some 300 converted into shelters. In northern Israel and parts of the northern occupied West Bank sirens have sounded, and residents instructed to remain close to shelters, limit their movements and avoid gatherings.
“The impact of the escalation resulting from Houthi missile fire from Yemen into Israel and Israeli attacks in response are also deeply troubling,” Throssell said.
“All parties to these conflicts must clearly distinguish between military targets and civilians and civilian objects in the way they conduct hostilities. They must do all they can to protect the lives of civilians, their homes, and the infrastructure essential to their daily existence, as clearly required by international humanitarian law,” she said.
“Too many innocent children, women and men have been killed, and too much destruction has been exacted,” the spokeperson added.
The High Commissioner urges all parties to pursue negotiations to end the current path of destruction and violence which shows no end in sight. He reminds everyone to ensure accountability of those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law that have taken place or are ongoing, whoever the perpetrators may be, and to ensure justice for the victims.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
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STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Lebanon:” We are gravely concerned by the widening hostilities in the Middle East”
TRT: 01:38
SOURCE: UNOG /OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 01 October 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shots : Palais des Nations
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are gravely concerned by the widening hostilities in the Middle East and their potential to engulf the entire region in a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The prospects that the situation may deteriorate further with terrible impact on civilians, and that it could rapidly expand to embroil other States in the region, are real.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “With armed violence between Israel and Hezbollah boiling over, the consequences for civilians have already been terrible – and we fear a large-scale ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon would only result in greater suffering.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The impact of the escalation resulting from Houthi missile fire from Yemen into Israel and Israeli attacks in response are also deeply troubling.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “All parties to these conflicts must clearly distinguish between military targets and civilians and civilian objects in the way they conduct hostilities. They must do all they can to protect the lives of civilians, their homes, and the infrastructure essential to their daily existence, as clearly required by international humanitarian law.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Too many innocent children, women and men have been killed, and too much destruction has been exacted.”
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The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
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In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
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