The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Lebanon: widescale displacement continues amid ongoing bombing
In south and east Lebanon civilians continue to face airstrikes, mass forced displacement and deprivation as the fight between Israel and Hezbollah militia goes on against the backdrop of war in Gaza.
In recent days, “an estimated 50,000 people have left Baalbek heading mostly to areas in the north of the Bekaa Valley, with many people spending the night in their vehicles,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office (OCHA). Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he described how “relentless displacement orders and subsequent airstrikes have dramatically increased displacement to a total of more than 842,000, over half of them women and girls”.
In addition to those internally displaced, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has recorded 460,000 people crossing into Syria; 70 per cent of whom were Syrians and 30 per cent Lebanese or other nationals - as well as 25,000 Lebanese arriving in Iraq. That represents a total of more than 1.3 million people now uprooted since the Gaza-Israel war began on 7 October 2023.
UN agencies and partners on the ground are responding to the urgent needs, rushing hot meals, clean water, medical supplies, mattresses, health kits and other basic items to vulnerable individuals. “We are working to access civilians who remain in hard-to-reach areas,” explained Mr. Laerke. “To date, 15 convoys have successfully been organized to reach areas in Tyre, Hasbaya, Marjayoun and Baalbek. But the insecurity has an impact on what we can do,” he added, as two humanitarian convoys to Baalbek were cancelled owing to the deteriorating security there.
A lack of funding is also undermining efforts. The UN flash appeal of $426 million for Lebanon is only 16 per cent funded at $73 million, far from the $800 million in pledges announced at the Paris Conference on Lebanon one week ago.
At the same time the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it is deeply concerned about rising attacks on health workers and facilities in Lebanon, warning that the healthcare system was already under enormous pressure before the Israeli war against Hezbollah. Since an escalation of hostilities on 17 September 2024, the UN health agency has verified 55 attacks on healthcare in Lebanon, causing 102 deaths with 83 injured. “But the (Lebanese) Ministry of Health is reporting that there are much higher numbers,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson. Many health workers have been killed or injured while off duty, she said, and this matters because “the health systems are already overstretched, health workers are already overworked and displaced. We are continuing to lose health workers at the very time when they are needed most”.
Asked whether Israel was attacking health facilities without any precaution as has been reported in Gaza, Dr. Harris replied that the WHO was “again and again and again emphasizing that health care is not a target, health workers are not a target. And we are certainly concerned about seeing the same pattern.”
Airstrikes have killed more than 2,800 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 13,000 others nationwide since the start of the Gaza war last year, when Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel with rockets as a “support front” for the Gaza Strip. Most of the casualties in Lebanon have occurred since last September.
Ends
Story: “Lebanon update – OCHA, WHO” – 01 November 2024
Speakers are spokespersons:
- Jens Laerke, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- Margaret Harris, World Health Organization (WHO)
TRT: 02’06”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 01 November 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
- Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “In recent days, an estimated 50,000 people have left Baalbek heading mostly to areas in the north of the Bekaa Valley, with many people spending the night in their vehicles. These relentless displacement orders and subsequent airstrikes have dramatically increased displacement to a total of more than 842,000, over half of them women and girls.”
- Medium shot of the speakers on the podium at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We are working to access civilians who remain in hard-to-reach areas. To date, 15 convoys have successfully been organized to reach areas in Tyre, Hasbaya, Marjayoun and Baalbek. But the insecurity has an impact on what we can do. Two humanitarian convoys to Baalbek were canceled due to the recently deteriorating security there.”
- Medium shot: journalists at the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We have a flash appeal out there for $426 million, but it is today just 16 per cent funded with $73 million.”
- Cutaway Medium shot of journalists in the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We've had 55 attacks verified, but the Ministry of Health is reporting that there are much higher numbers, as many workers have been killed or injured while off duty, and this matters because the health systems are already overstretched, health workers are already overworked and displaced. So, we are continuing to lose health workers at the very time when they are needed most.”
- Close shot of a laptop screen with the WHO spokesperson on.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We are, again and again and again emphasizing that health care is not a target. Health workers are not a target. And we are certainly concerned about seeing the same pattern.”
- Wide shot of press conference room.
- Close shots of journalists in the press conference room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNMAS
Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNMAS
Desperate and dangerous conditions in Gaza continue to hamper recovery efforts for the wartorn enclave's people, the UN health agency said on Friday, while demining experts warned that they’ve “barely scratched the surface” in assessing the level of contamination of unexploded ordnance.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News
The continued support of UN Member States to Lebanon will be “indispensable” to boost the country’s national armed forces and provide humanitarian assistance with more than one million people still uprooted by the Middle East war, the UN's peacekeeping chief said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNECE
Middle East war: After oil and gas shortages, concerns grow over critical minerals crunch
The shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by war in the Middle East has exposed a new threat: a looming shortage of strategic minerals needed to drive economies all over the world and a race by countries to obtain them.