“Massive numbers” of people are being displaced in Lebanon, a top UNHCR official has told Arab News, appealing for the international community to overcome its crisis fatigue and respond to the conflict. (UNHCR/File Photo)
Appealing for global community to respond to the conflict, top official says
Updated 29 September 2024
Caspar Webb
NEW YORK: “Massive numbers” of people are being displaced in Lebanon, a top UNHCR official has told Arab News, appealing for the international community to overcome its crisis fatigue and respond to the conflict.
It came as Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister warned on Sunday that up to 1 million people may have been displaced within the country.
Raouf Mazou, UNHCR assistant high commissioner for operations, was speaking in New York City on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly.
He warned that a “massive increase in displacement” was taking place in Lebanon, compounding woes for the UN’s refugee body, which is battling crises in some of the world’s most impoverished and conflict-ridden countries.
Two UNHCR workers were killed earlier this week in Lebanon as Israel stepped up its aerial campaign against Hezbollah, striking into the heart of Beirut.
Dina Darwiche, from the UNHCR’s Bekaa office in the country’s east, was killed alongside her youngest son as an Israeli missile struck her home on Monday.
Ali Basma, who worked with the UNHCR’s Tyre office in the south, was also confirmed dead on Monday.
“On our colleagues, it’s the drama of the context where civilian populations are the victims of indiscriminate bombing, indiscriminate airstrikes — this is what we’re observing,” Mazou told Arab News.
“They were not at work at the time when it happened. They were living their normal lives. But it reminds us of how civilians are exposed. In addition to that, we also have situations where colleagues in the course of their duty are targeted or find themselves killed
“And that’s another concern that we have. Humanitarian workers being exposed to danger as they are performing their functions.
“In this specific case it wasn’t — they were not at work — but still, this is something that, to us, of course, is extremely concerning.”
The escalation in Lebanon is “not something the world needs right now,” Mazou added, warning that “massive numbers” of people are being displaced within the country, on top of the 80,000 who fled to neighboring Syria in the past week, according to the Lebanese government.
In response to the conflict, the UNHCR is executing its contingency plans and beginning distribution of pre-positioned aid.
The body will also “strengthen its presence” to protect the most vulnerable, Mazou said.
As part of its response, the UNHCR is also launching a humanitarian appeal for support from the international community, he added.
But with conflicts in the region already raging in Sudan, Gaza, Syria and Yemen and Gaza, there is a “difficulty” in mobilizing resources, the assistant high commissioner said.
“We have core relief items already pre-positioned in the region which we can give fairly fast. We have the presence of colleagues. The presence of of colleagues is absolutely essential. There are many other items that are necessary and which we will provide,” he added.
“We are now coming up with an appeal that we are going to issue, to ask for support from the international community. But that is happening at a time when it is already difficult to mobilize resources. There are many other crises around the world, so it’s already difficult. And now we have another crisis added to the to the existing one.
“So, we’re very worried. We hope we will be able to mobilize, but we are really appealing to the international community to provide the resources that are required.”
For Mazou, the proliferation of conflict has not only tested the logistical strength of the UNHCR, but has also “numbed” the global community to human suffering.
“We all become numb. There’s a new conflict, there’s a new crisis — we simply do not have the normal reaction of outrage that we should normally have,” he said.
The result is that many of the countries receiving refugees — often already impoverished and unstable — are unable to provide protection and support.
On the ground, this means a greater risk of famine, sexual violence against women and children losing access to education, Mazou warned.
“So, we continue to appeal to make sure that the needs of all refugees around the world are responded to and that we are in the position of mobilizing for all countries around the world and not just one crisis.”
Israel’s prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office
Saar is a veteran politician who himself has had a strained relationship with the prime minister
Updated 7 min 52 sec ago
AP
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Sunday a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet, expanding his coalition and strengthening his hold on office.
Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would serve as a minister without portfolio and serve in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees the management of the ongoing war against Israel’s enemies across the Middle East.
Saar, 57, had hoped to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu’s. But a deal to become defense minister fell through several weeks ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border, leaving the popular Gallant in office for the time being.
Saar is a veteran politician who himself has had a strained relationship with the prime minister. He was once a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party, but angrily left it four years ago after accusing the prime minister of turning it into a “cult of personality” as he battled corruption charges.
Since then, however, Saar has struggled as leader of a small conservative party, enjoying little support with the broader public. While he and Netanyahu have little love for one another, they share a hard-line ideology toward Israel’s Arab adversaries.
In recent months, Saar has said Israel must fight until Hamas is destroyed. He also has called for tougher action against Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran. And like Netanyahu, he strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In a joint statement, they said they had put their differences aside for the good of the nation.
Netanyahu’s decision appears to have been driven in part by domestic politics. He faces a number of key political battles in the coming weeks — including the contentious issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox men into the army, passing a budget and taking the stand in his long-running corruption trial. Saar is expected to help Netanyahu on many of these issues.
His appointment also will likely scale back the influence of ultranationalist members of his coalition. Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, are religious ideologues who have threated to bring down the government if Netanyahu makes too many concessions in any ceasefire deal. Ben-Gvir has also drawn international criticism for provocative visits to a contested Jerusalem holy site.
Sunday’s agreement gives Saar, who hopes to be prime minister one day, an opportunity to revive his political career, while expanding Netanyahu’s majority coalition to 68 seats in the 120-seat parliament.
Frankly Speaking: Is a new civil war inevitable in Lebanon?
Far from deepening sectarianism, Israeli strikes are creating solidarity between Lebanon’s factions, says health minister
Dr. Firass Abiad accuses Israel of refusing to negotiate an end to conflict and of committing war crimes by killing health personnel
Updated 29 September 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Hassan Nasrallah, the longstanding Hezbollah leader who was killed in an Israeli strike on his Beirut stronghold over the weekend, was the author of deep divisions in Lebanon, which have long threatened to drag the nation back into the mire of civil war.
Since the latest hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah suddenly escalated in mid-September, reports have circulated on social media about flare-ups in sectarian tensions in different parts of Lebanon as a result of mass displacement of people from the south.
Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s minister of public health, insisted the conflict had not created a sectarian split in society, as even many Shiites, who form Hezbollah’s support base, now appear to oppose the militia’s actions.
“There’s clearly a lot of people in Lebanon who oppose the politics and what Hezbollah is doing. There’s no denying that, if you talk to people,” Abiad told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.
“This is across the board. This is not sectarian, (it’s) among all sects, including Shittes, you have people who oppose Hezbollah.”
Dr. Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s minister of public health, insisted the conflict had not created a sectarian split in society, even as many Shiites, who form Hezbollah’s support base, appear to oppose the militia’s actions. (AN photo)
At the same time, however, Abiad said Israel’s strikes on Lebanon had created a spirit of solidarity across Lebanon’s multiconfessional society, similar to the sympathy generated across the Arab world for the Palestinians — even among those who oppose Hamas — in the wake of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
“What Israel is doing by these indiscriminate attacks, when they attack a Christian or even when they are attacking Shiite areas … this will only increase the feeling of solidarity with the community where Hezbollah is based,” he said.
“We’ve seen this also with Gaza. If you look at the Arab world, the support for Hamas is not high. But when people see the atrocities, the carnage that Israel is perpetrating in Gaza, I think that, unanimously, a lot of people have a lot of sympathy with the people of Palestine.
“And Israel, in the way it is conducting its war on Lebanon, has fostered this environment of solidarity.”
Abiad said this sense of solidarity was evident on Sept. 16 and 17, when Hezbollah communication devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, exploded simultaneously in a coordinated attack blamed on Israel that killed at least 32 and injured more than 3,000.
“You could see this on the day of the attack on the explosive devices,” said Abiad. “We at the Ministry of Health were sending patients all across the country because we had to have a full response from all hospitals.
“And even when we were sending patients into hospitals that were in areas that are politically, or from a religious perspective, diametrically opposite to Hezbollah, the people who were injured were welcomed, they were cared for, they were given attention.
“This is something that Israel has repeatedly failed to understand; that its indiscriminate targeting or its dehumanization of all, for example, Arabs, or communities, would only lead to more sympathy with the ‘said’ enemies.”
On Saturday, Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli strike on the group’s Dahiyeh stronghold in Beirut. The attack follows days of Israeli strikes across Lebanon, which, as of Saturday, had left 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — dead.
Hezbollah began rocketing northern Israel last October in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Israel retaliated by mounting strikes on Hezbollah targets.
Since mid-September, Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets across the country have rapidly escalated. However, the roots of the conflict run deeper than last October. The two sides have been locked in an intermittent confrontation since the Lebanese civil war.
Hezbollah was formed during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Major escalations occurred in 1993, 1996, and particularly in 2006, when a full-scale war erupted, causing significant destruction in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has since strengthened its military capabilities, while maintaining its role in Lebanese politics. Tensions continued, with periodic border clashes, as the group has evolved into a key player in the broader Israel-Iran proxy conflict.
Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2000, creating the possibility of stability for Lebanon. However, territorial disputes remained, which Hezbollah exploited to build support and to justify continued resistance to Israel.
Does a share of the blame for the continuation of hostilities, therefore, belong to Hezbollah?
“No, that’s the exact opposite,” said Abiad. “If you go back to the UN resolutions — especially 1701. In 1701, it was very clear that, first of all, Israel has to withdraw from all the areas in Lebanon, which did not happen. And up till now, Israel still occupies Lebanese territory.”
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, ending the Lebanon War. It demanded the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of Lebanese and UN peacekeeping troops to stabilize the region and prevent future conflict.
“Secondly, it very clearly mentioned that Israel should not violate Lebanese airspace, which also did not happen; Israel has been violating Lebanese airspace continuously since the 2000 partial withdrawal from Lebanon,” said Abiad.
“So, indeed, unfortunately, these actions by Israel gave the pretext for Hezbollah to continue today what it is doing now. But let’s be very clear, Israel didn’t fulfill that part of 1701. And even now, Lebanon is saying we are ready to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions.”
One particularly irksome issue relates to the Shebaa Farms — a dispute that centers on a small strip of land claimed by Lebanon but occupied by Israel since 1967.
While Israel and the UN consider it part of Syria’s Golan Heights, Lebanon argues the area is Lebanese, fueling tensions, especially involving Hezbollah, over its sovereignty.
Given what is now occurring in Lebanon, does Abiad believe continuing the Shebaa Farms dispute with Israel has been worthwhile? Surely a negotiated deal would have been a far better option?
“But that depends on the other party accepting a negotiation,” said Abiad. “And, up to now, it has been very clear that Israel is not interested in a negotiated outcome.”
Whoever is ultimately to blame for prolonging the conflict, the result today is mass displacement, civilians killed, thousands injured, and public health system under extreme strain.
The ongoing conflict has created a massive humanitarian crisis, with widespread displacement across the country. According to the Lebanese government’s estimates, nearly 500,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to escalating violence.
Abiad highlighted the magnitude of the displacement from the south. “Before the attacks, the number released by the disaster management side was 130,000 displaced,” he said.
“Remember that by that time, there was an escalation of hostilities by Israel, and the populations were internally displaced still into southern areas.”
Abiad said the Lebanese government has established 400 public shelters, which currently house about 70,000 people. However, he said the total number of displaced people is far higher.
“We estimate that usually, from our past experience in the 2006 war, the number of people, whether they are living with friends, family, in homes they rented, or even across the border into neighboring countries, is four to five times as many as there are in shelters,” he said.
“And that’s why we really believe that the tally of people who have been displaced is probably around 400,000 to 500,000.”
The pressure on hospitals, in particular, is reaching breaking point.
“The daily tally of casualties keeps rising, as hospitals get overwhelmed with casualties,” said Abiad. “Can we continue all this? The answer is we are working at nearly full capacity, I would say. And it is becoming more tough as the war drags on.”
He added: “I think the most challenging would be fuel. I think that, concerning nurses, hospital beds, medical supplies, medications, as I said, we have been stocking up on our inventory. But really, fuel is going to be a critical issue.
“Hospitals, ambulances, they all require fuel to function. Now we have been increasing the renewable-energy budgets in our hospitals — 15 of our public hospitals now have renewable energy, constituting almost 40 percent of their energy requirements.
“Almost 200 of our primary health care centers now completely can work or function on renewable energy. But clearly I would say fuel is going to be critical if there is a further escalation.”
On top of this, Abiad accused Israel of deliberately targeting medical personnel — something he says constitutes a war crime.
“Do we consider this a war crime? Of course, we consider this a war crime,” said Abiad, adding that this was not just the view of the Lebanese government but echoed by international legal bodies.
“When we listen to the International Court of Justice, these are the experts on what is international humanitarian law and whether it has been violated. So these are the experts telling us that what Israel is doing constitutes war crimes.”
Second French national killed in Lebanon: ministry
“We confirm the death of a second French national,” said the foreign ministry statement
Last Monday, an 87-year-old French woman was killed when her home collapsed following an explosion in the south of the country
Updated 29 September 2024
AFP
PARIS: A second French national has been killed in Lebanon, France’s foreign ministry said Sunday, as Israel carried out fresh strikes against the country’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot flew into Beirut Sunday evening for talks with the authorities there and bringing humanitarian aid.
“We confirm the death of a second French national,” said the foreign ministry statement, adding that they would release more details later.
Last Monday, an 87-year-old French woman was killed when her home collapsed following an explosion in the south of the country.
Israeli warplanes target power stations, Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeidah
The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people
Updated 29 September 2024
Saeed Al-Batati
AL MUKALLA: Israeli warplanes on Sunday bombed two ports and two power plants in Hodeidah, the Houthi-held western city in Yemen, a day after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed to have fired a ballistic missile and drone at Israel.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported that Israeli warplanes launched a number of airstrikes on Hodeidah city port and Ras Issa port, including a major oil export terminal and Al-Hali and Al-Katheeb power plants.
The airstrikes had “completely” destroyed the Al-Hali power plant, Hodeidah’s main power station, rendering it inoperable and burying workers.
Al-Masirah said three workers were found under debris at the plant while rescuers were attempting to find more trapped people.
Images and videos shared on social media showed large balls of fire and smoke at the targeted oil storage facilities at Hodeidah Port and other locations.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its warplanes had attacked Houthi targets in Hodeidah and the Ras Issa regions.
Fearing that the airstrikes on facilities in Hodeidah would cause an oil-buying panic, the Houthi-run oil company issued a statement immediately following the strikes, assuring people in areas under its control that there were sufficient oil supplies and telling fuel station owners not to close stations or raise prices.
“The Yemeni Oil Company confirms that it has already taken the necessary precautions for any emergency and that the supply situation in the free zones is completely stable,” it said.
The airstrikes came a day after the Houthis claimed to have launched a ballistic missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, and vowed to carry out similar drone and missile strikes on Israel in the future in support of Palestine to put pressure on Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli warplanes first launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Hodeidah on July 20, killing and wounding 90 people a day after the Houthis fired a drone at Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring several others.
Since November the Houthis have fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at international commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea and other seas off Yemen, as well as at Israel, in what the Yemeni militia claims is an effort to support the Palestinian people.
Lebanon says nearly 60 killed in new Israeli strikes
Lebanon’s health ministry said air raids near the main southern city of Sidon killed 32 people on Sunday, while at least 25 died in the east
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 have fled to neighboring Syria
Updated 29 September 2024
AFP
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon’s health ministry on Sunday said Israeli strikes killed nearly 60 more people, after Israel’s military said it kept up its bombardment of Hezbollah targets there and also struck Yemen.
The attacks come after an air strike on Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs on Friday killed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group which has been engaged in cross-border fire with Israel for almost a year.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of Hamas militants in Gaza, who attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in the Palestinian territory.
After Israel turned its focus north from Gaza to Lebanon and cross-border fire escalated, Israeli attacks have killed hundreds since last Monday, the deadliest day since Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.
Lebanon’s health ministry said air raids near the main southern city of Sidon killed 32 people on Sunday, while at least 25 died in the east.
France’s foreign ministry, without giving details, said Sunday a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, after a woman died after a south Lebanon blast on Monday.
The announcement came as French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli air strikes intensified.
Barrot spoke earlier with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and said Paris sought “an immediate halt” to Israeli strikes.
France also appealed for Hezbollah and its backer Iran to abstain from any action that could lead to “regional conflagration.”
Pope Francis, asked about Israeli air strikes on civilians, said a country “goes beyond morality” when defense is not proportional to the attack.
A source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah’s body was found on Saturday “and was placed in a shroud on Sunday after being washed.”
Funeral details have not yet been arranged, the source said, requesting anonymity.
Israeli military operations in Lebanon seek to downgrade Hezbollah’s capacity to attack Israel, eliminate the group’s military leadership and “clean” the border areas from fighters, an Israeli security official said on Friday.
Israeli leaders say they want their citizens displaced from the north to be able to safely return.
Israel’s military said dozens of its warplanes attacked targets of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in war-ravaged Yemen on Sunday, including around Hodeida port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid.
Houthi media reports said the strikes killed four people and wounded 33.
The Yemen raids came a day after the Houthis said they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport with a missile, trying to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from New York.
Israel also hit Hodeida port in July, causing what an official there said was at least $20 million in damage, after a Houthi drone penetrated Israeli air defenses and killed a civilian in Tel Aviv.
An “unmanned aerial target” approaching Israel over the Red Sea — where the Houthis have regularly attacked shipping — was intercepted earlier Sunday, Israel’s military said.
Separately, it said the air strike that killed Nasrallah “eliminated” another 20 Hezbollah members, after earlier strikes killed Nasrallah’s right-hand man Fuad Shukr and the head of the elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil.
Israel also said Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah’s central council, was killed in a strike on Saturday.
Hezbollah has yet to officially announce his death, but a source close to the group said Qaouq had been killed.
Hezbollah is a powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon, but Nasrallah’s killing dealt it a seismic blow.
Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people in a week, including 14 paramedics over a two-day period, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
AFPTV live images on Sunday showed smoke rising beyond palm trees in the coastal city of Tyre, and more smoke across a bay.
Israel’s military said late Sunday it hit 120 Hezbollah targets, after earlier reporting dozens more.
Hezbollah said it had again fired rockets at the northern Israeli town of Safed.
It also reported firing “a volley of Fadi-1” rockets at an Israeli base in the Golan Heights. Israel reported several launches from Lebanon fell in unpopulated areas near the Israeli-annexed territory.
Nasrallah was the face of Hezbollah, enjoying cult status among his supporters.
Netanyahu said Israel had “settled the score” with his killing.
But in the northern Israeli town of Rosh Pina, Matan Sofer had mixed feelings.
Sofer, 24, welcomed the “good news” of Nasrallah’s death but wondered if “we risk it getting worse.”
US President Joe Biden — whose government is Israel’s top arms supplier — said Sunday a wider war “really has to be avoided.”
Analysts told AFP Nasrallah’s death leaves a bruised Hezbollah under pressure to respond.
For Tehran, his killing “has not altered the fact that Iran still does not want to get directly engaged” in the ongoing conflict, said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis group.
Iran said a member of its Revolutionary Guards was also killed alongside Nasrallah.
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 have fled to neighboring Syria.
Mikati, the prime minister, said up to one million people may have been uprooted, in potentially the “largest displacement movement” in Lebanon’s history.
In Gaza, the territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes Sunday killed several people.
Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,595 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
