People in Lebanon uprooted by Israeli airstrikes including in central Beirut have described being forced to flee "total destruction", amid fresh reports of Hezbollah projectile attacks into Israel and close-quarter clashes along the UN-patrolled line of separation between the two countries.
In the Lebanese capital, UN humanitarians reported "another night of strikes" ongoing attacks, as aid workers continued trying to help all those in need.
This was "despite their own families being displaced and searching for safety", said the UN's top humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza.
"Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what's next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent," said Jeanine Hennis, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon.
Multiple explosions
Among the aid teams already providing help to some of the approximately one million on the move so far, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that the humanitarian toll was "devastating", while Israeli attacks were continuing to displace thousands.
It insisted that all those caught up in the hostilities in Lebanon "desperately needed" the support of the international community to provide the basics: food, hygiene and medical care.
"We are talking about a lot of trauma and anxiety, so that is going to be huge as well," said Ivo Freijsen from UNHCR Lebanon, which highlighted the traumatic experience of one young woman, Nancy, who described the scenes around her as "terrifying…We are starting to accept that we could die at any moment…the stress I am experiencing is hard to describe," she told the UN agency, while one displaced Lebanese woman, Muna, said that she rushed out of her home because "there were 10 explosions at the same time".
https://x.com/Refugees/status/1841498370562503032
Communities in southern Lebanon have also had to flee the escalating conflict, including Zeinab and Fatima, who were at home preparing to go to school for an exam when the shelling started, at which point they feared their house was about to collapse.
"My mother told us to pack our things quickly, and we left in a rush," Zeinab, 14, told the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF.
Once she and her family reached Beirut after a "terrifying" journey, Zeinab described hearing shelling "all around us" while the "sound of explosions echoed everywhere".
To help countless children across Lebanon, UNICEF is on the ground delivering urgently needed water, health, nutrition, education services and psycho-social support.
