New York [US], March 12: Lebanon faces "a moment of grave peril" as Israel continues to launch deadly attacks across the country, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of people, the United Nations humanitarian chief has warned.
Speaking to the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, Tom Fletcher said "mass displacement is accelerating" across Lebanon as a result of the Israeli attacks, with more than 750,000 people now registered as displaced.
"We're seeing large-scale movements into densely populated urban areas where shelter capacity is already overstretched," Fletcher said.
"More than 120,000 people, including thousands of children, are now in 580 collective centres . These sites are overcrowded, with inadequate sanitation [and] insufficient essential supplies," he told the council.
"These conditions heighten risk of harassment, sexual violence, exploitation, abuse [and] trafficking, particularly of course for women and girls."
Israel began carrying out intensified attacks on Lebanon last week after Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israeli territory following the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks on February 28.
The Israeli military has launched a widespread aerial and ground assault against its northern neighbour, bombing areas across the country in what it says is a campaign against the Lebanese armed group.
Israel also has issued forced displacement orders for all of southern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut, sowing chaos as thousands of families fled their homes under fear of attack.
At least 570 people have been killed and 1,444 others wounded in Israeli attacks so far, according to the latest figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. At least 86 children and 45 women were among those killed, along with at least 21 paramedics
Source: Qatar Tribune
