GENEVA – The United Nations refugee agency announced Friday that the escalating conflict in the Middle East has become a “major humanitarian emergency,” with displacement numbers reaching alarming levels across the region.
According to UN officials, close to 100,000 individuals have been forced from their homes within Lebanon, while thousands of Syrian refugees living there have returned across the border to Syria. The crisis stems from ongoing conflicts that began when a U.S.-Israeli military operation targeting Iran commenced on February 28.
Israeli authorities have ordered mass evacuations from southern Lebanon and certain areas of Beirut as fighting continues with Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported Lebanese organization.
“UNHCR has declared the escalating crisis in the Middle East as a major humanitarian emergency requiring an immediate response across the region and into Southeast Asia,” stated Ayaki Ito, who serves as the UN refugee agency’s Director of Emergency and Programme Support, during a press conference in Geneva.
Ito warned that current displacement figures likely represent a conservative estimate of the actual crisis scope.
The UN official also reported that approximately 100,000 people have been displaced within Iran during the initial days of the conflict, with UNHCR personnel in the country handling hundreds of daily assistance requests from Iranian citizens.
Health concerns are mounting as well, according to World Health Organization regional director Hanan Balkhy, who announced increased disease monitoring efforts in Lebanon due to the massive population displacement.
“It worries us very much, the numbers of the displaced populations and the lack of adequate water and sanitation,” Balkhy explained.
