The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Lebanon crisis: UN rights chief urges warring parties to agree on ceasefire
UN human rights chief Volker Türk lent his weight to growing ceasefire calls in Lebanon on Tuesday, as senior Israeli cabinet members were reportedly due to meet on a deal to end more than a year of conflict with Hezbollah militants, sparked by the war in Gaza.
The development follows dire assessments from UN aid teams about the cost of “relentless” Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs since the weekend, resulting in extensive damage and significant casualties, and forcing more people to flee their homes.
“The High Commissioner reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the killings and the destruction,” stressed Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “Israeli military action in Lebanon has caused widescale loss of civilian life, including the killing of entire families, widespread displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, raising serious concerns about respect for the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity.”
At the same time, Hezbollah rocket fire has continued into northern Israel, resulting in civilian casualties, the OHCHR spokesperson noted. “Most of these rockets are indiscriminate by nature along with the displacement of many Israeli civilians, which is unacceptable. The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts: in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza.”
The latest update from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported that a deadly air strike on Saturday in Beirut “demolished a residential building, claiming nearly 30 lives and injuring more than 65 people. This is out of a total 84 people killed in the country that day alone, according to the authorities.”
On average, 250 people have been killed every week in November in Lebanon, bringing the death toll to more than 3,700 since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, OCHA said, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) condemned the killing of at least nine youngsters between 22 and 23 November, “including boys and girls who were sleeping in their beds”.
The UN agency said that the total number of child deaths has reached at least 240 since October 2023 when Hezbollah rocket fire escalated in response to Israeli bombardment of nearby Gaza.
Despite ongoing security concerns, the UN and humanitarian partners remain on the ground to try to scale up efforts to continue providing critical assistance.
As of 19 November, UNICEF reported carrying out 14 humanitarian convoys, reaching some 50,000 people in areas that are difficult to access, such as Tyre, Rmeich, Marjaayoun and Hasbaya. The UN agency has also supported displaced families living on the streets of Beirut, helping them find shelter amid a severe urban displacement crisis.
Meanwhile late Monday, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had delivered 48 tons of medical supplies to support the Lebanese health authority’s chronic medication programme, ensuring that 300,000 people “have continued access to essential medicines”.
Lebanon ceasefire call – OHCHR
TRT: 02 min 00s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 26 NOVEMBER 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speaker:
- Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson, OHCHR
SHOTLIST
-
- Exterior médium-wide: UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room, journalists, screens.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson, OHCHR: “The High Commissioner reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the killings and the destruction. Israeli military action in Lebanon has caused widescale loss of civilian life, including the killing of entire families, widespread displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, raising serious concerns about respect for the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity.”
- Medium-wide, Press room, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson, OHCHR: “The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has also continued to fire rockets on the north of Israel, which has resulted in civilian casualties. Most of these rockets are indiscriminate by nature along with the displacement of many Israeli civilians, which is unacceptable. The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts; in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza.”
- Medium-wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson, OHCHR: “At least seven paramedics were reportedly killed in three separate Israeli strikes on the south of Lebanon, adding to the 226 healthcare workers reported killed between the 7 October and 18 November this year. These are further indications of just how brutal this war has been on civilians.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, Press room, TV journalist and camera.
- Medium-wide, Press room, TV screens.
- Medium-wide, TV journalist and camera, control booths.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
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:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
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.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.