Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in New York to address the general debate at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Just hours earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned the Security Council that a storm of trouble was brewing in Lebanon. Bombing along the ‘Blue Line’ border separating Lebanon and Israel is happening with more intensity than ever before.
US leader Joe Biden, while addressing world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, warned that full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel is likely.
The refugees were forced to flee their homes early Thursday after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah positions, according to the UN refugee agency. Israel took the action after the attack on Israel, in which Tel Aviv was targeted by missiles for the first time.
Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the UN refugee agency’s representative in Syria, said thousands of Syrian and Lebanese families were crossing the border into Syria. They are women, children and men.
The Israeli army last night targeted 70 locations in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon. Both these areas are considered strongholds of the Hezbollah group.
Given the alarming situation and humanitarian needs of the past few days, the United Nations Refugee Agency, in collaboration with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, has been busy providing food, water, blankets and mattresses to those in need.
A large number of displaced people may be forced to spend the night in the open in border areas.
Aid promotion
Last weekend, Israel came under rocket fire in response to the bombing of pagers and walkie-talkie communication devices used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon. Since then, violence has escalated.
According to media reports, Israel’s Netanyahu government has rejected a 21-day ceasefire proposal by the United States, European and Arab countries.
Statistics from Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior show that more than 70,000 displaced people are registered in 533 government-run centers.
Over the past few months, the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has displaced more than 500,000 people. More than 600 people have lost their lives and more than 1,835 people have been injured in the violence so far.
United Nations refugee agencies, together with their partner agencies, are working to provide humanitarian relief to those displaced from their homes. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for more funding for the aid campaign.