UNITED NATIONS, March 17 — Warning of the mounting threat to civilians and infrastructure across the Middle East from the regional conflict, UN humanitarians said Monday they are ready to assist national authorities in response.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said health infrastructure in Iran and Lebanon has suffered notably.
OCHA said that according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Iranian institutions have reported extensive damage to health infrastructure and emergency response assets, with more than 230 health facilities and over 30 medical vehicles damaged or destroyed.
Health workers have been killed and injured, although no numbers have been given.
The IRCS said that more than 54,000 civilian units have been damaged, including residential, commercial and school buildings.
The World Health Organization said there were 28 attacks against healthcare reported in two weeks in Lebanon, resulting in 30 deaths and 35 injuries.
The World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund and humanitarian partners have distributed more than 800,000 hot meals, as well as mattresses, sleeping mats, blankets and other shelter items, OCHA said.
Hygiene kits have also been provided across hundreds of collective shelters, said the office, adding that humanitarians have been delivering clean water, benefiting nearly 700,000 people.
UNHCR said it has delivered over 182,000 essential items, such as blankets, mattresses, solar lamps, sleeping mats and jerry cans, across more than 375 collective sites nationwide, reaching more than two-thirds of those displaced in collective shelters.
OCHA said that large-scale displacement continues in southern Lebanon, citing official figures that show more than 830,000 people, about 14 percent of Lebanon’s population, have registered as displaced, including 290,000 children.
“Many families have fled their homes multiple times as hostilities spread to new areas,” OCHA said. Just 15 percent of those displaced are in public shelters, with many others relying on host families, informal arrangements or staying on the streets, along the roadsides and seaside.
The office said that Israeli displacement orders have expanded significantly since the beginning of the escalation to cover an estimated 1,470 square kilometers, or around 14 percent of Lebanon’s territory, including large parts of southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas of the Bekaa Valley.
“According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, as of yesterday (Sunday), at least 850 people have been killed and more than 2,100 injured since the escalation began,” OCHA said.
“Children account for 107 of those killed and 331 of the injured.” Published estimates of casualties in Iran range from about 1,200 to 1,400 deaths and more than 18,000 people injured, including more than 160 civilian fatalities in a strike on a school in the opening hours of hostilities.
The office said that people in all areas across the occupied Palestinian territory are exposed to lethal force, and the risk of casualties, destruction of property and displacement is further deepening humanitarian needs as the Mideast conflict rages.
Despite efforts to reopen healthcare facilities, OCHA said that only two out of every five health service points are operating, most of them only partially.
OCHA said that over the weekend, a strong dust storm swept through the Gaza Strip, damaging and destroying dozens of shelters. Site management partners estimated that more than 600 families’ shelters or belongings were damaged.
The United Nations and partners provided emergency shelter, food and hygiene support to the most-affected families.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” the office said. “According to partners who manage displacement sites, thousands of people are living without any type of shelter and are sleeping outside.
Many of the existing shelters have been worn out over time, following multiple storms this season.” OCHA said that people continue to have difficulty accessing food due to interruptions to the entry of supplies and shortages of cooking gas.
WFP and partners leading on food security warned that more than half of families in Gaza dangerously burn waste to cook food.
“The UN reiterates that cooking gas must be allowed to enter the Strip regularly, together with supplies from the private sector to complement humanitarian aid and help improve people’s diets,” the office said. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
