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Lebanon: People ‘still under the rubble’ after massive strikes as ambulances, hospitals come under threat – UN humanitarians
With Lebanon still reeling from Israel’s devastating airstrikes on 8 April, UN humanitarians reported new fears of attacks on ambulances and looming food shortages in the south of the country on Friday.
Speaking from Beirut, where he witnessed Wednesday’s attacks first-hand, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s representative in the country Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, said that according to the latest figures from Lebanon’s Ministry of Health some 300 people were killed in the strikes - one of the highest single-day death tolls since the start of the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah on 2 March - and 1,150 were injured.
“Many more people actually are still missing,” Dr Abubakar told reporters in Geneva. “They're believed to be under the rubble.”
Many body parts are also waiting to be identified, he said.
The UN health agency official also spoke of a warning received from Israel on Friday morning that “ambulances will be attacked as well.”
He said that Israel had been warning about “the use of ambulances by Hezbollah”.
WHO has insisted that while health care should not be militarized, misuse of health facilities or ambulances does not justify attacking them.
“The healthcare workers, the facilities, the ambulances are all protected under international humanitarian law,” Dr Abubakar said.
“Unless we have these services available, we will not be able to save lives.”
On Thursday WHO also received a warning that Israeli evacuation orders have been expanded in the Jneh area of Beirut which includes “two major hospitals that are managing the mass casualty [event], Rafik Hariri and Al Zahara hospital.”
The facilities are currently operating at full capacity. Dr Abubakar stressed the impossibility of potentially having to move the 450 patients, including some 50 in intensive care after having sustained injuries in Wednesday’s bombing, out of the health facilities.
“We have decided not to evacuate because we don't have any other place to evacuate them [to], actually,” he said.
The UN health agency official added that overnight “we received some feedback saying that these hospitals will be will not be attacked… whether that will materialize or not we will see.”
Amid the surge in emergency cases, Dr Abubakar noted that even before Wednesday’s mass casualty event the country did not have enough medical supplies to last even one month.
The 8 April airstrikes took place just hours after a ceasefire was announced between the United States and Iran. Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued, while according to media reports Iran said on Friday that it would not take part in peace talks planned for Saturday in Pakistan if the ceasefire was not extended to Lebanon.
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Eujin Byun said that families who had already fled earlier hostilities in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon – some of whom had begun contemplating returns after mixed signals about a ceasefire – were now once again uprooted.
Areas previously considered safe were struck on Wednesday, she said, “triggering panic and forcing people to flee for the second or third time.”
Ms. Byun added that the destruction of the Qasmiyeh Bridge, a major artery connecting the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre, has made “moving between northern and southern Lebanon much more difficult.”
“For many families from southern villages, return is no longer possible as the entire communities have been partially or completely destroyed,” she said.
The UNHCR spokesperson stressed that some 150,000 people are estimated to still be in the South and that humanitarian access to them is essential.
“They need a safe route to flee if they are forced to again,” she insisted.
The World Food Programme (WFP)’s director in Lebanon Allison Oman, who was on a convoy to a border village in the south earlier this week, gave reporters an eyewitness account of the situation there.
“What I saw really stayed with me,” she recounted, describing a local bakery which “had the glass front destroyed just an hour before we'd been there, and they were already sweeping up the glass and had already fired up the ovens because they were waiting for the wheat flour that we were bringing in on the convoy.”
“Their food stocks were very low, and it was clear that this convoy was much awaited… it was essential to help them keep going,” she said.
Ms. Oman warned that the situation is “rapidly becoming a food security crisis,” with food prices rising across the country.
“In just one month, the price of vegetables has surged by more than 20 per cent, bread prices have increased by 17 per cent... For families who are already struggling, this is deeply concerning,” she said, highlighting a “very worrying combination” where prices are rising, incomes are disrupted and demand is increasing.
The UN food agency official also stressed that in the conflict-affected areas in southern parts of Lebanon, more than 80 per cent of markets are no longer functioning.
“Many traders [are] reporting less than one week of essential food stocks remaining, she warned.
-ends-
STORY Lebanon strikes aftermath – WHO, UNHCR, WFP
TRT: 5:20’’
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT UNHCR FOOTAGE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 10 APRIL 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and 9 APRIL 2026 BEIRUT, LEBANON
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Medium-wide reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, Representative in Lebanon, World Health Organization (WHO): “According to the Ministry of Health, the latest figures of the impact of that, you know, 8 April, there's almost over 300 deaths and 1,150 injuries, but many more people actually are still missing them. They're believed to be under the rubble. We also do have many, many, you know, body parts that still cannot be identified, actually, and waiting to be identified.”
4. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – – Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, Representative in Lebanon, World Health Organization (WHO): “This morning, we received another, you know, a warning from the Israelis where the, you know, the ambulances will be attacked as well. And I just would like to remind that both the healthcare workers, the facilities, the ambulances are all protected under international humanitarian law. And unless we have these services available, we will not be able to save lives.”
6. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, Representative in Lebanon, World Health Organization (WHO): “In addition to that what we have seen on 8 April, actually, is the subsequent evacuation order that happened yesterday in the area called Jneh in Beirut where two major hospitals that are managing the mass casualty, Rafik Hariri and Al Zahara hospital, were included [in] the evacuation order. These two hospitals actually are currently having 450 patients. Of these 50 of them are in ICU and you can imagine now, you know, this caseload, where to transfer these hospitals.”
8. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Areas previously considered safe were struck this time, triggering panic and forcing people to flee for the second or third time. The destruction of the Qasmiyeh Bridge has made access to Tyre from Sidon even more restricted, making moving between northern and southern Lebanon much more difficult.”
10. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Eujin Byun, spokesperson, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “For many families from southern villages, return is no longer possible as the entire communities have been partially or completely destroyed. Some 150,000 people are estimated to still be in the South. Humanitarian access to them is essential and they need a safe route to flee if they are forced to again.”
12. Medium-wide reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Allison Oman, Country Director in Lebanon, World Food Programme (WFP): “Their local bakery had the glass front destroyed just an hour before we'd been there, and they were already sweeping up the glass and had already fired up the ovens because they were waiting for the wheat flour that we were bringing in on the convoy. Their food stocks were very low, and it was clear that this convoy was much awaited and it was essential to help them keep going.”
14. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Allison Oman, Country Director in Lebanon, World Food Programme (WFP): “It is rapidly becoming a food security crisis. We're already seeing clear signs of rising food prices across Lebanon. In just one month, the price of vegetables has surged by more than 20 per cent, bread prices have increased by 17 per cent. For families who are already struggling, this is deeply concerning. And what we're now seeing is a very worrying combination. Prices are rising, incomes are disrupted and demand is increasing.”
16. Medium-wide reverse shot: Speaker at the podium of the press conference; speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Allison Oman, Country Director in Lebanon, World Food Programme (WFP): “While markets across Lebanon remain broadly functional at the national level, this is actually masking much more severe reality in these conflict-affected areas. In southern parts of Lebanon. More than 80 per cent of markets are no longer functioning, with many traders reporting less than one week of essential food stocks remaining.”
18. UNHCR BROLL: 09 APRIL 2026, BEIRUT, LEBANON. Various shots, destruction in Beirut. Cars and residential buildings were destroyed. Civilians cleaning. PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
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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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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”.
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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.
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“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
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
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ends