Geneva (WAM)
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned of the seriousness of the current situation in Lebanon for children who are being subjected to continuous attacks and are fleeing their homes in a health system that is exhausted and unable to provide adequate resources. Ettie Higgins, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon, said during a video conference from Beirut to journalists in Geneva yesterday that reports indicate that 35 children were killed in Lebanon the day before yesterday alone, which is the highest number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months. She warned that further escalation in the conflict would be disastrous for all children in Lebanon, but especially families from villages and towns in the south and the Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, who were forced to leave their homes, as these new displaced people are added to the approximately 112,000 people who have been displaced since last October.
The UNICEF official said that this time could be worse for Lebanon’s children than the 2006 war, noting that there are 87 new shelters to accommodate the displaced in the south, Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek-Hermel, the Bekaa and the northern governorates, while stressing that the organization is working to intensify its response to deliver food, water and basic supplies to displaced families. She explained that the organization has already purchased and delivered 100 tons of emergency medical supplies to hospitals facing severe shortages and depletion of supplies, expecting more medical supplies to arrive this week.
UNICEF urgently called for an immediate de-escalation and for all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilian infrastructure and civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and medical personnel, describing last Monday as the worst day in Lebanon in 18 years, stressing the need for this violence to stop immediately or the consequences will be unacceptable.
In the same context, Dr. Abdel Nasser Abu Bakr, the World Health Organization representative in Lebanon, announced that the organization, in cooperation with partners, is working on a response plan that will be issued in the coming days to support the Lebanese health sector, stressing the need to protect health workers, facilities, supplies and means of transportation.
He said that hospitals in Lebanon have faced significant challenges in managing the number of injured since last week, with thousands of injuries requiring dressings and surgeries, noting that 2,078 surgeries were performed on those injured in the events that took place on 17, 18 and 20 September, while 777 people are currently receiving treatment in hospitals, with 158 critical cases in intensive care. He explained that since 8 October 2023, the organization has provided more than 60 metric tons of essential emergency health supplies, including surgical supplies, essential medicines, medical consumables, laboratory supplies, blood transfusions and personal protective equipment for health workers, and has delivered more in recent days.
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