Lebanon war: Essential services in south facing collapse, warns UN

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Deadly Israeli airstrikes hit targets across Lebanon on Wednesday, prompting renewed condemnation from top UN negotiators and humanitarians, who warned that essential services in the south of the country are close to collapse.

“Today, Israeli airstrikes hit the town of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, yet again… As the theatre and intensity of the exchanges of fire continue to expand, civilian suffering is reaching unprecedented heights,” said UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in a statement.

Five people were killed in the attack and there are reports that the Mayor or Nabatieh was among the dead, along with a humanitarian first responder, the senior UN official added.

Diplomacy call

“Military solutions will not and cannot bring safety or security to either side of the Blue Line,” Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert insisted, referring to the UN-patrolled line of separation between Lebanon and Israel where several peacekeepers have been injured in incidents involving the Israel Defense Forces in recent days.

“It is time for all concerned actors to immediately cease their fire and open the door to diplomatic solutions capable of realizing the needs of citizens and advancing regional stability,” she added.

Echoing those concerns, the UN’s top aid official in Lebanon, Imran Riza, underscored how intensifying Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks has caused “widespread civilian casualties, mass displacement and extensive destruction across the country”.

The conflict has exposed healthcare and frontline workers to attack, Mr. Riza continued, along with civil defence centres and water supply systems. These have been pushed “to the brink of collapse”, he said. “This must stop.”

‘Breaking point’ in Syria

In a related development, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that Syrians who have been hosting an influx of people fleeing war in Lebanon are now at “breaking point”.

In an appeal for international support to address “the escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria” linked to the war in Lebanon, WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said that some 260,000 people have now crossed into Syria to escape bombing and Israeli military ground operations.

Funding shortages earlier in the year forced the UN agency to cut assistance to the same families who are now helping those displaced from Lebanon.

“WFP is deeply concerned about worsening food security in Syria,” Mr. Skau said. “More than half of the population in Syria is already facing food insecurity, with approximately three million people in the grip of severe hunger conditions. Syrians – who are struggling to cope themselves are stepping in to host families escaping violence in Lebanon, making a tough situation even more critical.”

Everything lost ‘except hope’

Later in the day, Mr. Skau was joined by UNICEF deputy chief Ted Chaiban for a briefing with journalists at UN Headquarters in New York. The children’s agency Deputy Executive Director said the two officials has meet families in Lebanon during their visit to the country “who have lost everything except hope.”

They listened to families describe whole nights filled with fear “each story a testatement to the impossible decisions parents are force to make and their resilience amid relentless fear and uncertainty.”