On day seven of Middle East war, no let-up in suffering

This article is published in association with United Nations.

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 US 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 Latani 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.

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Israeli strikes intensify in Lebanon

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, especially in the north, in Al Qaa, in safe places in the Bekka as well.”

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.

Hormuz bottleneck

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.”

Gaza aid constricted

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.

Emergency healthcare stymied

“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.