The development follows damning assessments from United Nations aid groups about the cost of Israel relentlessly attacks the southern suburbs of Beirut since the weekend, resulting in widespread damage and significant casualties, and forcing many people to flee their homes.
“The High Commissioner reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire to end the killing and destruction,” Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized (OHCHR).
“Israel’s military action in Lebanon has caused widespread civilian casualties, including the killing of entire families, widespread displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure, causing widespread concern. serious concerns about respecting the principles of proportionality, distinctiveness and necessity.”
Civilians have to suffer
Simultaneously, Hezbollah rockets continue to fire into northern Israelresulting in civilian casualties, the OHCHR spokesperson noted. “Most of these missiles were indiscriminate in nature” and displaced thousands of Israeli civilians, “which is unacceptable. The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts: in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza.”
Latest updates from the United Nations aid coordination office, OCHAreported that a deadly airstrike Saturday in Beirut “destroyed a residential building, claimed nearly 30 lives and injured more than 65 people. According to authorities, this number is out of a total of 84 people killed in the country that day alone.”
The number of deaths increased
An average of 250 people were killed each week in November in Lebanon, OCHA said, bringing the death toll to more than 3,700 since the conflict escalated in October 2023, while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) condemned the murder of at least nine teenagers between November 22 and 23, “including boys and girls sleeping in their beds.”
The U.N. agency said the total death toll had reached at least 240 children since October 2023 when Hezbollah’s rocket fire escalated in response to Israel’s bombing of nearby Gaza.
Relief teams are still delivering
Despite ongoing security concerns, the United Nations and humanitarian partners remain on hand to scale up efforts to continue providing vital assistance.
As of November 19, UNICEF reported carrying out 14 humanitarian convoys, reaching about 50,000 people in hard-to-reach areas, such as Tyre, Rmeich, Marjaayoun and Hasbaya. The UN agency also supported displaced families living on the streets of Beirut, helping them find shelter amid a severe urban displacement crisis.
Meanwhile late Monday, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said it has delivered 48 tons of medical supplies to support the Lebanese health authority’s chronic medicine program, ensuring that 300,000 people “continue to have access to essential medicines.”
