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On day seven of Middle East war, no let-up in suffering
The escalating war in the Middle East has heightened growing concerns about further civilian suffering and displacement in the region and far beyond, UN agencies said on Friday.
Seven days since Israeli and U.S. bombing in Iran prompted ongoing counter-strikes across the Middle East, humanitarians confirmed massive upheaval in Lebanon, with hundreds of shelters now full, as whole suburbs of Beirut have emptied.
“Israel's military ground incursions into southern Lebanon, blanket displacement orders for the population in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekka region and the full area to the south of the Litani River, and its continued airstrikes on different parts of the country are bringing more misery, more suffering to an already weary civilian population,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
From the UN migration agency, IOM, Chief of Mission Lebanon Mathieu Luciano described the dramatic deterioration in the country on Thursday evening as the Israeli army carried out “multiple air strikes on the southern suburb of Beirut overnight”.
He added that many collective shelters are at full capacity, especially in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, “so, people are just redirected to other shelters, as I said, especially in the north, in Al Qaa, in safe places in the Bekka as well, where there's still some place”.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has declared the escalating crisis a major humanitarian emergency requiring an immediate regional response.
UNHCR Director for Emergencies Ayaki Ito told journalists in Geneva that the conflict is triggering significant population movements across the region and into Southwest Asia.
Nearly 25 million people in the affected areas are already refugees, internally displaced or recent returnees, placing additional strain on fragile host countries.
The major commercial shipping crisis caused by the war which has practically halted all vessel movement in the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran is already impacting UN agencies and partners seeking to dispatch lifesaving relief to Gaza and Sudan, among other emergencies.
The narrow channel carries nearly one-fifth of global oil along with large volumes of commercial goods.
“All traffic via sea has significantly slowed down,” said Anne Schaefer, IOM Deputy Director for humanitarian response and recovery. “This is the case in Port Sudan, but also in other ports of the continent.”
For Gaza, shelter items, tarps, tents and lamps “are all stuck in different stages, unable to now arrive”, she said, before warning of “a significant deterioration of the supply chain very, very quickly”.
The impact on relief missions to Sudan is also of particular concern as the humanitarian situation “is deteriorating very, very quickly”, the IOM official continued. “And of course, the rainy season is just around the corner, coming up, so, if we do not get the supplies in the next six weeks to eight weeks, it's going to be very, very difficult to reach populations, especially in Darfur.”
Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency’s Dr. Hanan Balkhy, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, confirmed that much-needed supplies are not transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. But she noted that flights were now resuming from Dubai, which is a major logistics hub for the entire humanitarian system.
“We have more than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries that have been affected by that current pause,” Dr. Balkhy noted, including Lebanon, Yemen and Somalia.
Back in Geneva, OHCHR’s Ms. Shamdasani highlighted the plight of people in Afghanistan, where a reported 66,000 people have been displaced there as a result of the latest fighting with Pakistan.
“In Pakistan as well, shelling and other fire has forced people to flee their homes and civilians on both sides of this border are now having to flee from airstrikes, heavy artillery fire, mortar shelling and gunfire,” she said.
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Middle East War – OHCHR, IOM, WHO
TRT: 3’02”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 6 MARCH 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Mathieu Luciano, Chief of Mission Lebanon, IOM (from Beirut)
- Anne Schaefer, Deputy Director for humanitarian response and recovery, IOM
- Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean (from Cairo)
- Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, OHCHR
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, OHCHR: “Israel's military ground incursions into southern Lebanon, blanket displacement orders for the population in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa region and the full area to the south of the Litani River and its continued airstrikes on different parts of the country are bringing more misery, more suffering to an already weary civilian population.”
- Wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mathieu Luciano, Chief of Mission Lebanon, IOM: “The situation in Lebanon has been deteriorating quite sharply and it took a dramatic turn yesterday evening with the Israeli army carrying out multiple air strikes on the southern suburb of Beirut overnight.”
- Wide, journalists, TV screens showing remote speaker.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Mathieu Luciano, Chief of Mission Lebanon, IOM: “On the collective shelters, indeed you know, many are actually already at full capacity, especially in Beirut, Mount Lebanon. So, other shelters, so just, you know, people are just redirected to other shelters, as I said, especially in the north, in Al Qaa, in safe places in the Bekaa as well, where there's still some place.”
- Wide, podium speakers, TV screens, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, OHCHR: “We have reports that up to 66,000 people have been displaced in Afghanistan just as a result of the latest fighting. In Pakistan as well, shelling and other fire has forced people to flee their homes and civilians on both sides of this border are now having to flee from airstrikes, heavy artillery fire, mortar shelling and gunfire.”
- Wide, podium, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Anne Schaefer, Deputy Director for humanitarian response and recovery, IOM: “All traffic via sea has significantly slowed down, this is not just the case in Port Sudan, but also in other ports of the continent.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean (from Cairo): “The Strait of Hormuz has not been open again for those types of shipments. However, the airspace has been temporary, in a temporary pause, and now it's resuming. So, we have more than 50 emergency supply requests across 25 countries that have been affected by that current pause.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Anne Schaefer, Deputy Director for humanitarian response and recovery, IOM: “For Gaza, we currently have destined shelter items, tarps, tents and lamps specifically and they are all stuck in different stages, unable to now arrive.”
- Wide, journalists, TV journalists, control booths, technicians
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Anne Schaefer, Deputy Director for humanitarian response and recovery, IOM: “We are going to see a significant deterioration of the supply chain very, very quickly, especially as some very large-scale projects are literally just starting in the situation, especially in Sudan, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating very, very quickly. And of course, the rainy season is just around the corner, coming up. So, if we do not get the supplies in the next six weeks to eight weeks, it's going to be very, very difficult to reach populations, especially in Darfur.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, journalists.
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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”.
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