The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Schoolgirls killed, thousands displaced, aid routes compromised: UN humanitarians deplore effects of new Middle East war
On the fourth day of Israeli and United States airstrikes against Iran and amid growing violence and instability in the Middle East, the UN urgently called for protection of civilians and warned of growing displacement and humanitarian needs.
UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani recalled the horror of a strike on Saturday which reportedly killed and injured dozens of girls in a primary school in Minab in the south of Iran.
“Children, little girls…at the beginning of the school day being killed in this manner, backpacks with bloodstains on them - this is absolutely horrific,” she said. “If there is any image that captures the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict, those are the images.”
Ms. Shamdasani said that UN rights chief Volker Türk is “deeply shocked” by the impacts of the hostilities on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and calls for a “prompt, impartial and thorough investigation” into the circumstances of the Minab attack.
“The onus is on the forces that carried out the attack to investigate it. We call on them to make public the findings and to ensure accountability and redress for the victims,” she insisted.
Ms. Shamdasani also stressed that if attacks are found to be directed against civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, they are “serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.”
The OHCHR spokesperson expressed concern for the welfare of Iranians “given the Government's record of cracking down with lethal force on [a] broad scale against those who oppose their rule and the new threats of senior officials against any expression of dissent at this time.”
She called on the authorities to safeguard Iranians’ fundamental freedoms and deplored people’s limited access to essential information amid a nationwide internet shutdown.
Since the conflict erupted on Saturday with Israeli and US attacks on Iran, Tehran responded by with counterstrikes against Israel and other US allies across the region. Ms. Shamdasani underscored the fact that besides Iran and Israel, the hostilities have so far impacted 12 other countries, destroying homes, businesses, airports and energy infrastructure.
In Lebanon, where armed militants Hezbollah entered the conflict, drawing Israeli strikes, “heavy displacement has been reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut”, said UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch.
Israel issued evacuation warnings to the residents of more than 53 Lebanese villages and conducted intense airstrikes across all three parts of Lebanon, he said.
As of Monday, “the conservative estimates suggest that nearly 30,000 people were hosted and registered at collective shelters,” Mr. Baloch said. “Many more slept in their cars on the side of roads or were still stuck in traffic jams, leaving the south to [reach] Beirut.”
According to media reports on Tuesday, Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon, following Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel.
The UNHCR spokesperson underscored the fact that many of the countries affected by the new conflict “already host millions of refugees and internally displaced people”.
Further violence and displacement risk overwhelming host communities’ capacities, he warned.
Severe disruptions to the transport of goods due to ever-broadening hostilities in the region are also affecting humanitarian supply routes and those who rely on them for their next meal.
Speaking from Cairo, Samer Abdel Jaber, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), highlighted disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea which “will complicate maritime routes and delays and driving costs for most of our operations that depend on those routes”.
“With seas contested and airspace closing, we're looking at adapting and [using] our supplier networks in other countries like Türkiye, like Egypt, like Jordan and Pakistan to support overland corridors,” he said.
The WFP official added that Egypt’s ports and the Suez Canal, “a key hub for us to support our operation in Gaza, but also in Sudan,” are still functioning.
He said that Israel’s decision to close border crossings to Gaza since the beginning of the conflict had been a concern but that “good news” of an imminent opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing came on Tuesday.
According to subsequent media reports the crossing, on the southern border of the Gaza Strip, did reopen.
“That is timely for us and we need to get in aid as fast as we can,” Mr. Jaber said. “We have wheat flour that is sufficient only for 10 days and food parcels that will maintain our programmes only for two and a half weeks…We need to make sure that there is continuous and scalable flow of food into the Gaza Strip,” he concluded.
-ends-
STORY War in Iran and impact across region – OHCHR, UNHCR, WFP
TRT: 3:47”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 3 MARCH 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Medium-wide shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “This attack that hit the girls’ school was absolutely devastating. I mean children, little girls in the middle of the school day, at the beginning of the school day being killed in this manner, backpacks with, you know, blood stains on them. This is absolutely horrific and I think if there is any image that captures the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict, those are the images.”
4. Medium-wide reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR If attacks are found to be directed against civilians or civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks, they are serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.”
6. Medium-wide shot: Speaker on screens, journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): “Across Iran, we have grave concerns for the welfare of the population, given the Government's record of cracking down with lethal force on broad scale against those who oppose their rule and the new threats of senior officials against any expression of dissent at this time. The authorities are reminded of their obligation under international human rights law to safeguard Iranians’ fundamental freedoms. We are also concerned that many Iranians are again unable to access the Internet and hence we have limited access to essential information.”
8. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Babar Baloch, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Heavy displacement is being reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut after Israel issued evacuation warnings to the residents of more than 53 Lebanese villages and intense airstrikes across all three parts of Lebanon.”
10. Wide shot: Speaker on screens, journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Babar Baloch, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “As of yesterday, the conservative estimates suggest that nearly 30,000 people were hosted and registered at collective shelters. Many more slept in their cars on the side of roads or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads, leaving the South to Beirut.”
12. Wide shot: Journalists in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Samer Abdel Jaber, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP): “Humanitarian supply routes across the region are going through a strain. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz is something that we're monitoring, the Red Sea as well, because that will complicate maritime routes and basically delays and driving costs for most of our operations that depend on those routes.”
14. Wide shot: Speaker on screens, journalists in the Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Samer Abdel Jaber, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP): “With seas contested and airspace closing, we're looking at adapting and relying our suppliers and use our supplier networks in other countries like Türkiye, like Egypt, like Jordan and Pakistan to support overland corridors. And Egypt ports and Suez Canal are still functioning, and that is a key hub for us to support our operation in Gaza, but also in Sudan.”
16. Wide reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Samer Abdel Jaber, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, World Food Programme (WFP): “We were worried because the borders to Gaza, the crossings have been closed since the escalation. We got the good news today that actually the crossings will be opened and that is timely for us and we need to get in aid as fast as we can. We have wheat flour that is sufficient only for 10 days and food parcels that will maintain our programmes only for two and a half weeks. So we need to make sure that there is continuing flow, continuous flow and scalable flow of food into the Gaza Strip.”
18. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
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.