UN warns of 'huge escalation' in Lebanon amid ceasefire uncertainty

The UN’s top humanitarian official in Lebanon warned Wednesday of a “huge escalation” in violence, as airstrikes intensified across the country with uncertainty about a newly announced truce in Iran.

“We keep talking about escalations. This is another huge escalation upon the escalations that we've been facing,” Imran Riza, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, told journalists.

"So the needs are huge and but the basic need is to try and get some de escalation, to try and get some stop, some halt to this. But, we are very, very worried.”

Riza said confusion earlier in the day about whether the US-Iran ceasefire applied to Lebanon quickly gave way to worsening conditions on the ground.

“We woke up today … to news of the ceasefire … and then somehow the developments of today have been dramatically, dramatically different,” he said, noting that “the sounds over the last three hours … are ambulances” across Beirut.

He added that an early morning strike on a cafe in the southern city of Sidon killed eight people, alongside more than a dozen airstrikes reported before a broader escalation.

“The majority of people right now are not in shelters,” said Riza, emphasizing that cash assistance is the most effective way to support displaced civilians staying with relatives or renting accommodation.

Since the US and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire Tuesday, conflicting accounts have emerged about whether it included Lebanon .

Pakistan, which mediated the deal, said the two-week pause in fighting would extend to Lebanon.

But Israel denied that assertion, and continued its strikes, while US President Donald Trump told US public broadcaster PBS that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire.