People observe damaged buildings following an overnight Israeli military strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on 2 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Wael Hamzeh) 
International aid organisations are calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, as well as humanitarian access to those areas affected by the violence in order to support affected populations. Ahmad Chreif, the deputy medical coordinator at Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) in Beirut, warned that Lebanon’s health system, which was already fragile, was facing serious challenges.
Chreif reported that there had been closures of health facilities and shortages of health workers due to the unstable situation; difficulties in retaining health workers in frontline hospitals; exhaustion among those who remained at their posts; and an increase in the number of internally displaced persons living in suboptimal shelter conditions.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/12522489.jpg "Injured Lebanese children, victims of Israeli strikes on South Lebanon on 23 September 2024, rest in a hospital in Saksakieh, in the province of Sidon, South Lebanon. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR)")
“I’m speaking to you today, but not feeling safe in Beirut city… We have seen so many devastating events — the explosion of beepers everywhere has resulted in facial injuries, impacting breathing, vision and hands for over 3,000 people, alongside continuous horrific civilian massacres,” he said.
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Chreif was speaking at a press briefing on the emergency in Lebanon on Thursday, 3 October 2024. He was joined by representatives of various international aid agencies, including Save the Children, Oxfam, Amnesty International and Action Against Hunger.
Escalating regional conflict
The press briefing follows the recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East. On Thursday, the Israeli military instructed people to evacuate communities in southern Lebanon that are outside a UN-declared buffer zone, indicating that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group, according to AP News.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Islamist political party and militant group that has launched attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border in a show of support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Hamas launched an assault on Israel on 7 October 2023 that killed 1,200 people. Since then, Israeli forces have killed 41,689 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestine Ministry of Health in Gaza. The conflict has been described as a genocide against the Palestinian people by many activists in South Africa and other countries.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/12541083.jpg "Lebanese people who left their homes amid Israeli airstrikes have set up tents near the seaside in Beirut, Lebanon, on 3 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Abbas Salman)")
A spate of Israeli airstrikes have reportedly hit southern Lebanon and Beirut over the past week. More than 1,2-million people have been displaced, 420,000 of whom are children, according to Jennifer Moorehead, the Save the Children country director for Lebanon.
On 28 September, the World Health Organization reported that 1,640 people had been killed in Lebanon since 8 October 2023, including 38 health personnel. There had been 11 attacks on health centres and three hospitals were evacuated.
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“Internally displaced people also are beginning to move into shelters and schools are being used as shelters. Most of these displaced people have left their homes without taking their essentials, including medicines, especially for chronic illnesses. A total of 867 centres have been opened to receive displaced persons in public schools, educational complexes and universities, of which 643 centres have reached their maximum capacity,” said Chreif.
“Just like Gaza, we expect a surge in dermatological and respiratory diseases. Lebanon also is a country with recurrent and chronic epidemics, notably of Cholera and measles. A rise in the number of cases is expected, especially in overcrowded shelters and damaged infrastructure. To add to this, an increase of rashes and scabies are being detected in the shelters.”
Chreif spoke of the need for “full respect” for international humanitarian law amid the escalating conflict, especially the protection of civilians. He added that health infrastructure and personnel, including humanitarian staff, needed to be protected and not targeted.
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“Humanitarians should have access to all affected zones to support the affected populations… All populations in Lebanon should be able to access full healthcare, including mental healthcare, no matter their status. And finally, a ceasefire is needed immediately and permanently, both in Lebanon and Gaza,” he said.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/12259419.jpg "Activists pray during a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people and to condemn the Israeli airstrikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, organised by 'Students against the Occupation' under the slogan 'The Egyptian regime is a partner in genocide', outside the Egyptian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, on 27 May 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Wael Hamzeh)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/12505556.jpg "Syrian children carry their belongings as families prepare to leave Wazzani village, southern Lebanon, on 15 September 2024. Displaced Syrian refugees, who used to work in agricultural fields in Wazzani village, left the area after leaflets reportedly dropped by the Israel Defense Forces demanded the evacuation of civilians from the area. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR)")
Aya Majzoub, Beirut-based deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said that over the past year, civilians in Gaza had been subjected to unlawful killings, forced displacement, wanton destruction, torture and the deliberate denial of life-saving humanitarian assistance by the Israeli military. She expressed concern that similar patterns might emerge in Lebanon, with “catastrophic consequences” for civilians.
Pummelling souther Beirut
“Since the escalation on 23 September, Israeli airstrikes have been pummelling the southern suburbs of Beirut, which is already a densely populated area… Airstrikes have also been pummeling large parts of south Lebanon. We’re particularly concerned by the evacuation warnings that the Israeli military has announced, essentially ordering the residents of over 70 towns and villages in South Lebanon to leave their homes immediately,” she said.
“We want to underscore that these warnings do not create a free-fire zone in south Lebanon and they do not absolve the Israeli military of its obligations under international humanitarian law to never target civilians and to take all possible measures to minimise harm to civilians.”
Moorehead said that more than 100 children had been killed by airstrikes in Lebanon. She added that many children in the southern parts of the country were already traumatised before the escalation in conflict, due to the ongoing violence in the region since 7 October 2023. DM