Israeli Onslaught Intensifies Lebanese Crisis

The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line continue to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Highlighting the deepening humanitarian catastrophe for civilians on Lebanon’s Independence Day, the UN refugee agency, UNCHR, warned of a prevailing sense of uncertainty and fear as the war grinds on.

“In recent weeks, Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes and ground incursions, and this has deepened the humanitarian catastrophe that has affected civilians,” said Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon. “The past few weeks have been the deadliest and the most devastating for Lebanon and people in decades.”

Massive displacement crisis

To date, close to one million people have been displaced across Lebanon – one in five of the population – and nearly 600,000 people have crossed the border into Syria. 

People flee the hostilities in Lebanon as they cross the Jdeidet Yabous border into Syria on foot.

© UNHCR/Hameed Maarouf

People flee the hostilities in Lebanon as they cross the Jdeidet Yabous border into Syria on foot.

According to the authorities, as of 20 November, there have been nearly 3,600 confirmed deaths including more than 230 children and more than 15,000 injured.

Speaking from the war-torn country, Mr. Freijsen appealed for international assistance to “ramp up winter assistance; it’s started to rain and in some areas the first snow has fallen…we have a huge collective effort in front of us we need to pursue in terms of creating better conditions for all the displaced through specific winter assistance and improved shelter.”

The UNHCR official stressed the need to ensure equal access to shelter for all displaced people, particularly refugees who were already in an acutely precarious situation before this crisis. The agency’s response includes counselling, community support and creating safe spaces for those most at risk. To date, it has reached more than 100,000 people during the current emergency and supports a network of 44 health facilities across the country, including the provision of life-saving equipment, such as trauma kits.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), one in 10 hospitals has ceased operations or been forced to reduce services as attacks continue on healthcare and personnel.

Ambulances targeted

“A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to the healthcare and this is unprecedented in any level,” said Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO Representative in the country.

Citing UN health agency data, he noted that nearly 330 healthcare workers have been killed in Lebanon since 8 October last year, and “47 per cent of these attacks on healthcare have proven fatal”.

Asked to explain this high fatality ratio, Dr Abubakar added that on the front line “more ambulances have been targeted – and whenever the ambulance is targeted actually then you will have a three, four or five paramedics that have been killed”.  

In an update from the Lebanon-Syria border crossing at Jdaidet Yabous, UNHCR’s Representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, reported that an estimated 560,000 people have sought shelter inside Syria since 24 September – about 65 per cent are Syrians and the remainder are Lebanese. Crossing the border remains extremely dangerous for civilians and humanitarians alike, however.

“It is clear from our interaction with those Syrians and Lebanese that we speak to at the border that the bombings of the IDF of border crossings – including the one where I am here which has been bombed at least twice in the past few weeks – this has had a major effect in reducing the numbers. Syrians and Lebanese are very scared of using these escape routes,” said Mr. Vargas Llosa, speaking to journalists in Geneva via video link.

Desperation and danger at border

Around 50 Lebanese nationals are returning to Lebanon every day in response to the “disastrous” economic situation in Syria, along with a smaller number of Syrians, the UNHCR official continued.

“They’re going back because they cannot make ends meet here because they’re not getting enough support, and they think that they might also be better off in Lebanon. Again, these are very, very small numbers. But for us, even small numbers, are worrying signals.”

UN News

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Israeli Guns Displace 200,000 in Lebanon

Over 200,000 were displaced inside Lebanon because of Israeli airstrikes, the UN high commissioner for refugees said on Saturday.

“More than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon have now crossed into Syria fleeing Israeli airstrikes,” Filippo Grandi wrote on X.

“Relief operations are underway, including by UNHCR, to help all those in need, in coordination with both governments,” he added.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel’s onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,600 victims, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7 according to the Anadolu news agency.

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Yemen: Ruining Lives Through War

Yemen is facing a nutrition emergency of catastrophic proportions, with three districts plunged into severe crisis and four more teetering on the edge of famine. This escalating disaster demands immediate global action and unwavering humanitarian support to avert further tragedy and safeguard countless lives.

While many countries face food insecurity and shortages, famine is only declared by the United Nations when certain conditions are met, using a scale known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). A famine classification is the highest on the IPC scale, and is declared in an area where at least 20% of the population faces extreme food shortages, acute malnutrition rates exceed 30%, and two out of 1,000 people die from starvation on a daily basis. 

Sever crisis

For the first time, this level has been reported in Yemen by UN experts in three districts. A report published by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Technical Group in Yemen, covering only areas under government control, found that two districts in Hodeidah Southern lowland and one in Taiz lowland (Makha) falls within Phase 5, which is considered the worst phase of the IPC, and four other districts—Mawza and Al Makha in Taiz lowland, and Hays and Al Khawkhah in Hodeidah lowland—are expected to follow by October 2024.

Yemen’s food crisis is a man-made result of the war there, with the most critical cases emerging along the war-torn country’s Red Sea coast. The protracted and devastating conflict that began in March 2015 continues to destroy Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

War ruins lives, uproots communities, and wrecks food systems, making it the primary cause of hunger in Yemen. In almost a decade, the conflict and its proxy war have killed more than 150,000 people there, caused economic collapse, and produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Today, 21.6 million Yemenis—two-thirds of Yemen’s population—don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and more than 80% of Yemenis live below the poverty line.

War Ruins Lives

As per the IPC report, malnutrition rates in Yemen have significantly worsened due to a combination of drivers, including a lack of drinking water, a shortage of nutritious food, the spread of diseases such as cholera and measles, and broader economic downturn.

The number of acutely malnourished children in the country has increased by 34% compared with last year, including more than 18,500 children under the age of five who are projected to be severely malnourished within the coming months.

Women and girls suffer disproportionately from food insecurity and malnutrition, and coping mechanisms are becoming increasingly desperate. Women eat last and least, giving priority to children and other relatives or using money for other household needs. Around 223,000 pregnant and lactating women are expected to be malnourished by the end of this year. In addition, early marriage has increased since the escalation of the conflict, and girls as young as eight years old are being married off to reduce the number of family members to feed, or as a source of income in order to feed the rest of the family and pay off debts.

Beyond the four districts projected to slip into famine, according to the IPC report, all 117 districts in government-controlled areas are expected to suffer from “serious” levels of acute malnutrition by October 2024.

About half of the country’s population—or 18.2 million people—is in need of humanitarian aid this year, even those hundreds of miles from the front line, because Yemen is critically dependent on imports, humanitarian funding, and incomes that have been knowingly undermined by parties to the conflict.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor emphasises the urgent need for the international community to work towards securing an end to this crisis and an inclusive peace in Yemen, stressing the crucial importance of increased humanitarian support and intervention to mitigate the impacts of the famine and acute malnutrition, especially on the lives of vulnerable individuals like pregnant women and children. Euro-Med Monitor also calls on the parties to the conflict to address the health and nutrition emergencies in Yemen and ensure access to sufficient nutritious food and safe drinking water; and notes that this will require the international community to unlock financial commitments and implement political solutions to safeguard the country’s food security and the overall future of Yemen’s population, revitalize the shrinking economy, and pave the way for peace.

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