Middle East war: Women in Lebanon forced to give birth on roadside

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As the UN Secretary-General touched down in Beirut on Friday in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, UN agencies highlighted the dangers for civilians and particularly pregnant women and migrant workers, amid ongoing airstrikes and rocket fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israel. 

“There’s 11,600 pregnant women who are affected, 4,000 are anticipated to give birth over the next three months,” said Anandita Philipose, Lebanon Representative for the UN population fund, UNFPA. 

“Many of these women have been forced from their homes, cut off from essential health services and forced to give birth in dangerous conditions, some even by the side of the road.”

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The situation across Lebanon has escalated dramatically – and notably in the south, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley – since war erupted across the Middle East, sparked by Israeli-U.S. strikes in Iran on 28 February, Iranian counterstrikes in many Gulf States, Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel and Israeli airstrikes in response.

Health care hit

According to UNFPA, 55 hospitals and clinics have been forced to close, either because they are in zones impacted by Israeli mass evacuation orders, “or because there’s been direct damage to them”, Ms. Philipose added.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, has recorded daily rocket, missile and drone attacks on Israel and the occupied Golan from Lebanon and artillery fire, air and drone strikes by Israeli soldiers, who have made “ground incursions up to seven kilometres (4.3 miles) into Lebanon”, said Kandice Ardiel, UNIFIL spokesperson.

Speaking via video from the force’s headquarters in Naqoura close to the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel, Ms. Ardiel highlighted a significant escalation on Wednesday evening. That involved more than 100 projectiles “fired from Lebanese territory and over 100 projectiles fired right back from Israel, as well as seven airstrikes within our area of operations”.

Nonetheless, “things have been more quiet yesterday. We haven’t seen so much activity, and I haven’t seen any numbers from today, but I’ll say here in Naqoura, it’s been fairly quiet…nonetheless, it’s a very volatile situation and anything can change at any moment.”

Migrant vulnerability

As the violence continues, the UN migration agency, IOM, warned that more than 822,000 people have been displaced so far inside Lebanon alone, with migrants “particularly vulnerable” and with “nowhere to go”, said Mathieu Luciano, IOM Chief of Mission in Lebanon.  

“Lebanon hosts 200,000 migrants. They come here for work and they’re particularly vulnerable,” he said from Beirut. “They come from Ethiopia, from Sri Lanka, from Kenya, Sudan, Bangladesh and other countries and most of them were working in agriculture, construction, also domestic workers, and the crisis has hit them hard. It left many with nowhere to go and relying on community organizations, churches, their embassies and NGOs for safety.”

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 4.1 million people have been internally displaced in Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan since the beginning of the escalation.

Help to leave Iran 

Inside Iran, IOM said that it has already assisted migrants to return home from Iran. “We have requests to assist others. Right now, the barrier is resources to be able to do so,” said David John, Director of Movement, Resettlement and Labour Pathways at the agency.

“So far, the numbers that are being mentioned are that some 11,400 Iranians have crossed into Türkiye, while over 24,600 Afghans have returned from Iran back into Afghanistan. Both figures are remaining currently within the daily average crossings,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva.

The UN agency has found work-arounds to counter supply chain disruption caused by the war. “Despite ongoing airspace closures and many time disruptions, UNHCR has been able to respond quickly,” Mr. Baloch explained. “Essential relief items are pre-positioned across the region, including Termiz in Uzbekistan, strategically close to Iran and several country-level warehouses.”