Norwegian Refugee Council warns of ‘immense human toll’ of Israel’s air strikes

Israel’s air strikes across Lebanese villages and cities on Monday are the most violent in 11 months, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council has said. “Residential areas and densely populated neighbourhoods were bombed, which means the human toll will be immense,” warned Jan Egeland.

The council pointed out that families were told they only had a couple of hours to leave home, and there are now long queues of cars as “terrified families” try to flee to Beirut and other affected areas. Many thousands will be displaced today.

“The Norwegian Refugee Council provides humanitarian aid to displaced Lebanese, and to Syrian and Palestinian refugees across Lebanon, including the areas that are now under bombardment,” explained Egeland. “Our teams are currently all accounted for, but we fear that this latest wave of strikes will have a devastating impact on our lifeline to the communities we serve. They have already endured months of conflict, crossfire and deprivation.”

The council appealed for immediate de-escalation by all parties to the conflict and for an end to the indiscriminate attacks that destroy civilian homes and infrastructure. It also appealed to donors to allow funding to help rehabilitate collective shelters and support countless families who will have lost their income.

“Lebanon already hosts more than 1.5 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees and finds itself in a severe economic crisis,” said Egeland. “In spite of this, international donors have cut their aid to the countries and aid groups have had to reduce their relief to communities in great need.”

The targeting of civilian areas in southern and eastern Lebanon and northern Israel escalates hostilities to a new and incredibly dangerous level, noted the council. Further escalation will drive violence and destruction at an immense scale and risk a full-scale regional conflict.

According to the Lebanese ministry of health, 182 people have been killed and more than 700 have been wounded in today’s air strikes by the occupation state.

“It has never been more critical to agree on a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as for Lebanon and Israel, to spare civilians across the region from further suffering and loss,” added Egeland. “Key powers in the region and around the globe must exert every effort to get all sides to stop this relentless bloodshed.”

READ: Israel army says preparing new wave of air strikes in Lebanon Bekaa region