GENEVA

Humanitarian needs in Lebanon are "rising faster" than aid groups can respond as Israel continued its military campaign in the country, the UN migration agency warned Friday, announcing a new emergency funding appeal.

"The people of Lebanon are bearing the brunt of yet a new war, yet another war," said Mathieu Luciano, chief of mission in Lebanon for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

While the US-Israel attacks on Iran continue, Tel Aviv has extended its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite a 2024 ceasefire.

Luciano told reporters in Geneva that humanitarian organizations are struggling to keep pace with the rapidly expanding crisis as "the needs are escalating much faster than our capacity to respond."

The IOM, he said, launched a $19 million flash appeal to expand operations over the next three months, focusing on displacement monitoring, shelter, relief distribution, protection services and health care.

The agency also raised alarm over airstrikes in Beirut that struck areas where displaced civilians had been sheltering along the seafront.

Families who had fled their homes were sleeping in tents or outdoors in the Corniche area when the strikes hit, reportedly killing at least eight people and injuring others, according to the IOM official.

Luciano said the attack underscored the extreme vulnerability of civilians displaced by the conflict.

Israeli operations in Lebanon since March 2 have killed 687 people, wounded 1,774, and displaced about 822,000.

Health system 'increasingly overstretched'

The escalating violence is also placing severe pressure on Lebanon’s health system, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Noting that "the majority" of fatalities and injuries occurred in Nabatieh, followed by the South and Mount Lebanon, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier warned: "A significant number of people remain in hard-to-reach or high-risk areas, including older people, persons with disabilities and individuals with limited mobility, who have barriers to evacuation and access to assistance."

Hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed while many patients who rely on regular treatment are struggling to receive care, according to the spokesperson.

"Health facilities are increasingly overstretched as trauma cases surge," Lindmeier said, adding that people with chronic illnesses, including those requiring the usual interventions such as dialysis, insulin, or other life-sustaining treatment, are facing disruptions due to displacement, infrastructure damage, and movement restrictions.

Over 11,000 pregnant women affected

Women and girls are facing some of the most severe consequences of the crisis, according to the UN Population Fund.

The agency estimates 11,600 pregnant women have been affected by the conflict, with about 4,000 expected to give birth within the next three months, while many health services have been disrupted.

The UNFPA said 55 hospitals and clinics have been forced to close, either because they were damaged or located in areas under evacuation orders.

"Many of these women have been forced from their homes, cut off from essential health services, and forced to give birth in dangerous conditions, some even by the side of the road," said Anandita Philipose, UNFPA’s Lebanon representative.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also arrived in Lebanon on Friday for what the UN described as a visit of solidarity with the Lebanese people.