Lebanon crisis: needs increase as UN launches new funding appeal

“Humanitarian needs are increasing with every day of conflict; unfortunately our work is far from finished…we need funding,” said Imran Riza, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon.

Speaking from Beirut, the humanitarian veteran expressed shock at the destruction caused by the hostilities, which involved air and drone strikes as well as shelling.

He described “hospitals and clinics hit by air strikes, government buildings destroyed, farmland scorched, water stations destroyed and schools turned into refugee camps”.

Since the latest escalation in violence, more than 3,500 people have been killed and more than 10,000 injured. Nearly one million people are still displaced from their homes.

“Health workers and first responders are facing death and injury on a horrific scaleMeanwhile the entire neighborhood has been reduced to rubble, said Mr Riza.

He also cited the deep and long-lasting trauma caused by the repeated displacement faced by families, the lack of adequate shelter and the uncertainty of being able to return home. Providing emergency assistance in conditions like these is extremely complex and requires immediate improvement in providing assistance to the most vulnerable groups, he stressed.

“There are a lot of evacuation orders going on all the time. And in fact, this morning there have been a number issued, people are still moving. So, it’s very difficult to know where people are at any given time.”

“Affected people are rapidly exhausting their capacity to survive and essential services are under increasing pressure,” the UN aid coordination office, Ochasaid in an update accompanying the application.

Increased danger for women, girls

As with conflict anywhere, mass displacement has increased the risks for women and girls in Lebanon.

“Overcrowded shelters lack privacy, adequate sanitation and basic protective measures,” Andrew Saberton, Deputy Executive Director of the UN population fund warned, UNFPA.

More than 600,000 women and girls are estimated to be at risk of gender-based violencehe said, speaking from Cairo via video, to journalists in Geneva.

Additionally, around 1,800 women are estimated to give birth every month across Lebanon. “Yet health facilities continue to be attacked, hospitals and primary health centers are being forced to close and women are finding it increasingly difficult to access vital maternal health services,” explained Saberton.

Air raid tragedy

She described how one of the UNFPA-supported primary health care centers and safe spaces for women and girls in southern Lebanon that she visited “was being rebuilt in 2025, once again badly damaged by airstrikes. It is one of the few, very few facilities that continue to operate in the region.”

Warning of the protracted displacement crisis now occurring in southern Lebanon, Riza noted that beyond Israel’s declared military lines, an estimated 28,000 people still remain.

He added that in 2024, after the conflict between Hezbollah fighters and Israel, several things will happen 68,000 people “unable to return to their villages after the cessation of hostilities”either because conditions are unsafe or “mainly because their villages have been destroyed. I think our estimate now is that the number will be much higher, at least maybe around 200,000, but probably more than that”.

The emergency appeal issued on Friday brings the total request of the UN and its partners for Lebanon through August this year to $639.9 million.