“We are receiving reports that 12 of the 22 dead are women and 2 are children,” said Jeremy Lawrence, spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – OHCHR.
The spokesman said, “The place where the attack took place was a four-storey building. Given these facts, we have genuine concerns about respect for international humanitarian law. “There are also concerns about the principles of war and the difference between combatants and unarmed people, and the principles of proportionality of force.”
“In this regard, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights calls for a swift, independent and comprehensive investigation into the entire incident.”
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said the death toll in Lebanon has reached nearly 2,200 since the Israeli army intensified its war against Hezbollah fighters in September.
Hezbollah has also not stopped firing rockets into Israel.
UNICEF Middle East Director Rema James Imsis said that as the situation worsened, so did the number of casualties.
UNHCR official Rema told reporters in Geneva that more than 10,000 people were injured in the Israeli airstrikes.
In addition, approximately 25 percent of the country’s population is directly affected by the Israeli army’s evacuation order.
serious crisis
According to the Lebanese government, the number of people displaced by the current crisis in the country has reached almost 1.2 million.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – OCHA has warned that all affected people are facing a crisis that is the worst in decades.
OCHA said in an online statement that “the violence has pushed an already overburdened health system close to collapse, with a devastating impact on health services.”
“Attacks on health services are a violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately.”
UNHCR official Rema James Imsis said these people are hearing Israeli evacuation orders and must flee quickly without taking any belongings.
“Many of them are forced to live in the open, and sleep in the open in search of safety and support.”
…to be continued…