UN says humanitarian situation in Lebanon worse than 2006 war

The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in Lebanon is now even worse than during the last war against Israel 18 years ago.

"The humanitarian situation in Lebanon has reached levels that exceed the severity of the 2006 war," the UN emergency aid office OCHA said on Sunday.

"The situation has escalated anew in recent days, with the Israeli army issuing displacement orders for residents of Baalbek and Nabatieh, shortly before airstrikes targeted these locations."

The office said the toll on the population has been "exacerbated by the destruction of critical infrastructure including healthcare, with many hospitals overwhelmed and reportedly urgently requesting blood donations to address the critical influx of casualties."

The current war between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8 last year with rocket attacks by the Lebanese Shiite militia in support of the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which had launched the Gaza war with its terrorist attack on Israel the previous day.

Almost 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since then and a further 13,300 injured, according to official reports. The Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilians and members of Hezbollah in its lists.

Among the dead are also about 180 minors and 600 women. In its latest report, OCHA emphasized that more than 11,000 pregnant women have been affected by the war, including 1,300 who had to give birth in a health system on the verge of collapse.

The Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, condemned attacks on civilians and infrastructure, calling for "an immediate cessation of hostilities to protect vulnerable populations."