Hospitals overloaded, tens of thousands forced to leave their homes
CNN quoted information from the Lebanese Ministry of Health that on September 29 alone, Israeli airstrikes killed 105 people in Lebanon and injured 359.
But those are just a few of a series of continuously increasing casualty numbers in recent times as the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel continues to escalate.
According to the Lebanese NGO MedGlobal, Lebanon’s health system is being overwhelmed by the rapidly rising number of casualties. Recent airstrikes have left more than 50 hospitals in Lebanon struggling to cope with thousands of wounded. The number and extent of casualties resulting from the fighting is horrifying.
Medical staff are overwhelmed with the need to treat the injured; doctors and nurses here have to work non-stop. The work is very hard, sometimes we have to work 36 hours straight without sleep… these are the shares from doctors and nurses working in hospitals in Lebanon.
Destroyed buildings after an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon on September 28, 2024. Photo: THX/TTXVN
With death lurking at any moment, people here are also facing the fear of impending hunger. The World Food Programme (WFP) has just announced that it has deployed emergency relief operations to provide food to 1 million people affected by the escalating conflict in Lebanon.
“As the crisis deepens, we are preparing to provide emergency assistance to around 1 million people through a combination of cash and food assistance,” said Matthew Hollingworth, WFP country director in Lebanon. WFP said it is distributing ready-to-eat rations, bread, hot meals and food to shelters across Lebanon and is appealing to the international community for an additional $105 million to fund the operation until the end of the year. Giacomo Lapo Baldini, Relief International’s country director in Lebanon, said around 300,000 Lebanese have no access to clean water after Israeli attacks on facilities.
The threat of starvation and death has caused an explosion of displacement in the country. The head of the UN Refugee Agency Filippo Grandi said more than 200,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon and more than 50,000 have fled to neighboring Syria, creating unprecedented chaos in the country in recent days.
The reality of the multifaceted humanitarian crisis has prompted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to warn on September 22 that Lebanon could become “a second Gaza”. Recently, on September 28, Mr. Stephane Dujarric - spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also emphasized: “This cycle of violence must end immediately, and all parties must step back from the brink of disaster.” “The Lebanese people, the Israeli people, as well as the entire region, cannot afford a full-scale war,” the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General affirmed.
The air strikes continue.
While the United Nations, the EU and many countries have called on Israel and Hezbollah to refrain from escalating the conflict; President Joe Biden said that the US is “making a strong effort” and will do everything possible to prevent a larger conflict in the Middle East region…. the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation continues to escalate seriously, threatening to push the region to all-out war.
The Israel Defense Forces said on September 29 that Hezbollah continued to fire rockets across the Israeli border, while Israel continued to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The most notable development was that early on September 30 (local time), Israel launched attacks on Beirut - marking the first time the Lebanese capital was hit by airstrikes since the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation erupted in October 2023.
A house in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, was damaged after being hit by a rocket fired by the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon on August 24, 2024. Photo: THX/TTXVN
“Lebanon is in a difficult period and cannot afford another war,” said Corinne Fleischer, WFP’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. On October 1, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the country was facing “one of the most dangerous periods in its history.” A day earlier, on September 30, Najib Mikati called on Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon to stop fighting, saying that the “key” to ending the current tension between Hezbollah and Israel was for Tel Aviv to end its military actions in Lebanon.
However, all these calls are currently just wishes. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate. In the latest development, on October 1, Israel confirmed that its army has begun a “limited, localized and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The humanitarian crisis in the area will therefore become more serious. Even more worrying is the situation of “escalation after escalation” in the Middle East as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to spread, while the conflict between Israel and the Hamas Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip has yet to end.
Nguyen Ha
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/khung-hoang-nhan-dao-tai-lebanon-khong-con-la-nguy-co-post314989.html
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