UN humanitarian officials called Tuesday for urgent action to stop the escalating conflict in Lebanon from spiralling into a similar scene of devastation as seen in Gaza.
“We need to do everything we can to stop that from happening,” said Matthew Hollingworth, Lebanon country director for the United Nations’ World Food Programme.
Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel, has killed more than 41,900 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN has said the figures are reliable. Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 1,100 people and displaced upwards of a million in less than two weeks.Hollingworth said many people were fleeing because they “have watched over the last year as the war in Gaza has continued and neighbourhoods have been decimated and pounded, and that is deep in their gut, in their hearts, in their minds”.
“The devastation is beyond belief for all people in Lebanon as it is in Gaza. We can’t let this happen again.”Humanitarians are working to address the soaring needs, but Hollingworth insisted that what was needed was to “de-escalate”. “We have very significant needs moving forward,” Hollingworth said, lamenting that the WFP was facing a $115 million funding gap to cover the towering needs over the next three months.
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