Lebanon crisis: UN human rights office calls for investigation into Israeli attack
“What we know is that of the 22 people killed, 12 were women and two children,” said Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.OHCHR).
“We learned that it was a four-story residential building that was attacked. With these factors, we are really concerned about [International Humanitarian Law]the laws of war and the principles of distinction, proportion and symmetry. In this case, [OHCHR] will calls for a prompt, independent and thorough investigation into this incident.”
Since the Israeli military escalated its offensive against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon last month, whose deadly rocket attacks on Israel have not stopped, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCRreported that The death toll in Lebanon is currently more than 2,200 since the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023.
That number “continues to rise as the situation becomes more dramatic”said Rema Jamous Imseis, UNHCR Regional Director for the Middle East.
UNHCR officials told journalists in Geneva that more than 10,000 people were also injured in Israeli airstrikes and that Israel’s evacuation order left more than 25% of the country “under direct evacuation orders from the Israeli military.” .
Worst crisis ‘in decades’
Some 1.2 million people are now displaced across LebanonAccording to the country’s government, while the United Nations aid coordination office, OCHAwarned that all those affected “are enduring the worst humanitarian crisis in decades”.
“Violence is pushing an already overwhelmed health system to the brink, with devastating impacts on care. Attacks on medical facilities violate international humanitarian law. They must end now,” OCHA said in an online post.
“People are heeding calls to evacuate and they are running away with almost nothing,” said Ms. Imseis of UNHCR. “Many of them are being forced outdoors, they are sleeping under the sky as they try to find their way to safety and support.”
Aid disruption
Helping those in need remains dangerous and difficult, she continued, noting that “over the past three days, we have had to endorse, approve and re-approve the inter-agency convoy movement scheduled to take place today.”
Desperate scenes were also reported on Lebanon’s border with Syria, where More than 283,000 people have now crossed the border into northern Syria “Seeking safety, fleeing Israeli air strikes,” the UNHCR official said.
About 70% of them are Syrian and about 30% are Lebanese.
“We saw two women with about nine children who described their 10-hour walk to get to that point.
They witnessed the impact of the violence firsthand, an airstrike hit a house 100 meters from theirs and they fled, literally, with only the clothes on their backs.”
Gaza: Horror in the hospital yard
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) condemned Monday’s attack on the courtyard of al Aqsa hospital, where people from northern Gaza were asked to relocate. At least four people were burned to death and dozens of others, including women and children, suffered severe burns.
“There are too many children with burns and burns” that need treatment [the] The hospital does not have the necessary medicines, antiseptics and painkillers,” said UNICEF spokesman James Elder.
“During my last business trip to Gaza earlier this month, I discovered a phenomenon like fourth-degree burns; I met a six-year-old boy, Hamid, who had fourth-degree burns. So what we saw last night will again be large numbers of people, including children, with severe burns that hospitals simply do not have the resources to treat.”
The “disaster” situation in the North
OCHA warned in an update on Tuesday that the situation in northern Gaza was “catastrophic,” as Israeli military operations intensified, severely affecting residents’ access to means of survival. , United Nations Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at a regular press conference in New York.
“Our medical partners warn that Currently only three hospitals in northern Gaza are operating and only at minimal capacity. These facilities are severely lacking fuel, blood, trauma kits and various medicines,” he said.
About 285 patients remain in these hospitals as military operations continue outside.
Mr. Dujarric also said Kamal Adwan hospital is “still overloaded,” receiving between 50 and 70 new injured people every day, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.
Humanitarian partners continue their efforts to support people in northern Gaza, providing food assistance and distributing relief goods as reserves dwindle. There are serious concerns that many bakeries could be forced to close for around 10 days due to fuel shortages.
Continue polio vaccination
Meanwhile in central Gaza, approx 93,000 children under 10 years old received the second dose of polio vaccine in the second round of vaccination campaign to stop the highly contagious and debilitating disease.
About 43% of them have been vaccinated by teams from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). More than 76,000 children also received Vitamin A supplements.
“OCHA emphasizes that it is important that parties respect the humanitarian pauses that have been agreed to ensure that we can, our partners can reach these children,” Mr. Dujarric said. need vaccines.
