SRINAGAR: António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has called for an immediate end to the widening Middle East war, warning that civilians across Lebanon and Israel are paying the heaviest price as the conflict intensifies.
Speaking to reporters in Beirut during a solidarity visit, Guterres said the Lebanese population had been “dragged into” the war and stressed that only diplomacy could resolve the crisis. “The war must stop,” he said, adding that civilians across the region “deserve to live without fear.”
According to reports by the UN News, the escalation began on March 2 when rocket fire by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah toward Israel triggered a large-scale Israeli military response. Since then, Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes and some ground incursions in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has continued rocket attacks across the border.
The UN chief said the resulting Israeli bombing campaign has been “devastating,” leaving large parts of southern Lebanon and areas around Beirut heavily damaged and increasingly uninhabitable.
Humanitarian agencies say the conflict has triggered a massive displacement crisis. More than 800,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Lebanon, many moving to schools and public shelters that have been converted into temporary living spaces.
The UN also warned that the human toll is mounting rapidly. Hundreds of civilians have been killed since the escalation began, including many children, while thousands of families have been uprooted as evacuation orders spread across wider parts of the country.
Senior UN humanitarian official Imran Riza described the situation as a “full-blown humanitarian catastrophe.” In interviews with UN News, he said children accounted for around 20 per cent of those killed, while women made up roughly 21 per cent of fatalities.
Displacement has also disrupted education across the country, with more than 120,000 displaced people currently living in collective shelters, many of them set up in schools.
“Not only are children getting killed and displaced,” Riza said, “but they are also losing access to education as classrooms are turned into temporary living spaces.”
During his visit, Guterres met displaced families and humanitarian workers and announced a major emergency funding appeal to help address the crisis. The UN has launched a flash humanitarian appeal seeking 308.3 million US dollars to provide food, drinking water, healthcare, education and protection services for civilians over the next three months.
According to UN officials, the humanitarian situation has worsened as the broader Middle East conflict disrupts regional support networks. During earlier escalations, Gulf countries had provided large-scale assistance to Lebanon, but many of those states are now themselves affected by the wider regional confrontation.
The UN chief also warned that attacks on peacekeepers were unacceptable after several members of the UN mission in southern Lebanon came under fire in recent days. The area along the frontier, known as the Blue Line, is monitored by the UN peacekeeping force United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Despite the escalating violence, Guterres said the international community must increase its diplomatic engagement and support for Lebanon’s institutions and armed forces.
“Solidarity in words must be matched by solidarity in action,” he said, urging countries to respond generously to the UN’s humanitarian appeal.
“The people of Lebanon – as well as Israel and all other peoples throughout the region – deserve to live without fear, to raise their children without the sound of sirens and strikes, and to return home without wondering when they will have to flee again,” he said.
Meanwhile, UN agencies have warned that the deepening humanitarian crisis is particularly affecting women and vulnerable groups. According to the United Nations Population Fund, around 11,600 pregnant women in Lebanon have been affected by the ongoing conflict and nearly 4,000 are expected to give birth in the next three months.
Anandita Philipose, the UNFPA representative in Lebanon, said many pregnant women have been displaced from their homes and cut off from medical services. “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,” she said.
Healthcare infrastructure has also been severely affected by the conflict. UNFPA reported that at least 55 hospitals and clinics have been forced to close either because they were located in areas covered by Israeli evacuation orders or due to direct damage from the fighting.
Officials from the UN peacekeeping mission United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said exchanges of fire across the frontier continue daily. The mission has recorded repeated rocket, missile and drone attacks launched from Lebanese territory toward Israel, followed by Israeli artillery fire, airstrikes and drone attacks in response.
According to UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel, the violence recently escalated sharply when more than 100 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward Israel and a similar number were launched in retaliation by Israeli forces, along with multiple airstrikes within the UN peacekeeping mission’s operational area.
Humanitarian agencies have also raised concerns about the vulnerability of migrant workers caught in the crisis. The International Organization for Migration said more than 822,000 people have now been displaced within Lebanon, while migrants working in agriculture, construction and domestic services are among those most severely affected.
Mathieu Luciano, the IOM Chief of Mission in Lebanon, said many migrants from countries such as Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Sudan and Bangladesh have been left stranded with limited resources and are relying on community organisations, embassies and humanitarian groups for assistance.
The conflict has also triggered broader population movements across the region. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 4.1 million people have been internally displaced across countries including Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan since the escalation began.
UN agencies say they are continuing emergency relief operations despite supply disruptions and airspace closures caused by the conflict, while pre-positioned stocks of humanitarian supplies are being used to deliver food, water and other essential assistance to affected communities.
