Source: UN News: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 00:08 AM
UN humanitarian aid teams have reported that despite a fragile ceasefire in force in Lebanon, the process of killing and displacement of people has not stopped and due to Israeli attacks in the south, villages have been so badly destroyed that they are difficult to recognize. More than 2,700 people have been killed in fighting between Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces since March 2, according to Lebanese officials. UN Women (UN Women)’s regional director for Arab countries, Moise Doraid, said Thursday that 25 of the more than 380 people killed in Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect on April 17 were women. Tweet URL
The situation “highlights the dangers that women face as they attempt to return to their homes amid the perceived safety of the ceasefire.” “Continued Israeli airstrikes, evacuation orders, restrictions on returns to certain areas and restrictions on movement mean that most people still cannot return to their homes,” Moise Douraid told journalists in Geneva via video link from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. More than half a million women and girls are still displaced.” Moise Douraid urged the international community to “stand with these women, girls, men and boys so that hope can be restored.” The UN official stressed that unlike other wars and conflicts the Lebanese people have faced in past decades, “this current war has destroyed hope for many people in southern Lebanon, as they lose their homes and Lands have been destroyed.” She described how, amid rising food insecurity, a woman was forced to “forage for wild herbs to feed her family.” This worrying situation is in line with assessments by food insecurity experts. These estimates suggest that an additional 144,000 women and girls could face crisis-level hunger or worse in the coming months, bringing the total to approximately 639,000. Access to food, water, health care, education and basic services is dangerously disrupted in Lebanon today. Approximately 1.2 million people have been displaced, and entire communities have been uprooted due to Israel’s eviction orders. These orders are now being implemented in a larger part of the country than ever before. Still no peace. Despite the implementation of the ceasefire, peace has not been established. Thousands of people are returning amid challenging conditions, widespread damage to homes and risks from unexploded ordnance.world food program (WFP) Matthew Hollingsworth, an assistant executive director of WFP Has negotiated the movement of 19 convoys to provide aid to 84 and a half thousand people in southern Lebanon. But the convoys approved are only a fraction of what is needed. She added, “Typically, less than 50 percent of the requests sent to Israel to allow aid convoys to pass are being approved. So, we want to send many more such aid convoys to hard-to-reach areas… We just need to do a lot more.” UN Women, from March 2, 15 has provided direct assistance to more than a thousand women and girls, reaching more than 70 thousand people in their communities. “In such dire circumstances, I have also seen the incredible resilience of women and women’s organizations who are delivering humanitarian aid, supporting livelihoods and enhancing social cohesion across Lebanon,” said Moise Douraid. She added that the agency is supporting more than 500 women leaders “to help communities “to help respond to crises, connect people to assistance, identify urgent needs, reduce tensions, and ensure that women’s voices are heard in local relief and recovery efforts.”