An Israeli airstrike overnight on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut has sparked a new wave of displacement among civilians already impacted by months of conflict, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
This is obviously a very alarming development, UN Spokesperson Stphane Dujarricsaidduring his daily briefing from New York.
We are deeply worried also about reports of civilians also being killed in the attack, and that also includes children.
Call for restraint
Thestrike marked the firstattackonBeirutsince the17 Aprilceasefire announcementbetween Lebanon and Israel,and itssubsequentextension.
Mr. Dujarricreiteratedthe UNscallon all parties to exercise maximum restraint and fully respect international law, including international humanitarian law.
New displacement orders were issued on Thursday for three villages in the South andNabatiehGovernorates, forcing more civilians to seek shelter elsewhere, the UN coordination office,OCHA,reported.
Overall, more thanonemillion peoplein Lebanonremain displaced.This includes 126,000 people hosted in more than 600 collective shelters across the country,althoughmostof thosedisplaced remain outside formal shelters.
Support for civilians
Aidpartners continue toassistcivilians in conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas, with 110 humanitarian movementsfacilitatedsince 2 March, when hostilities erupted between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces.
Yetdeliveriesremainconstrained by insecurity, movement restrictions, unexploded ordnance, and damaged infrastructure.
Despite the constraints, humanitarian partners have distributed more than 160,000 blankets,120,000 mattressesas well asmore than 100,000 hygiene kits and 50,000 menstrual hygiene kits.
The UN and partners also haveprovided more than3.7 millionlitresof bottled waterto people in need,and more than 65,000 cubicmetresof water through trucking operations.
Concern for peacekeepers
Meanwhile, peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) continue toobserveextensive military activities by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) throughout the area of operations,saidMr. Dujarric, whichincludes high-densityarmouredmovements, large-scale engineering works, and sustained logistical traffic.
Peacekeepers also report significant firing incidents and projectile trajectories, most of which appear to originate from Israel Defense Forces positions, he added.
UN peacekeepers and positions are being directly affected by the ongoing hostilities.Fiveblue helmetshave lost their lives since thefightingbegan.
Once again, we stress that the safety and the security of our peacekeepers and the inviolability of our UN premises must be respected at all times by everyone, the Spokesman said.
