UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced serious concern regarding the rising civilian casualties resulting from Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric at a news conference on Friday, Reuters reports.
His remarks came following the escalation of the tensions between Lebanon and Israel, during which Israel has been conducting large-scale airstrikes across multiple areas in Lebanon, leading to a rapid increase in civilian casualties.
"Beirut residential areas were once again subjected to intense overnight Israeli airstrikes, apparently injuring rescue workers. Also, strikes continued unabated in other parts of Lebanon. The toll on civilians from this campaign is totally unacceptable," Dujarric said at the UN headquarters in New York City.
The UN chief urged "all parties to do whatever they can at all times to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensure that civilians are never put in harm's way," Dujarric added.
The UN also announced that it will allocate additional funds to respond to the worsening situation in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization announced that a shipment of medical supplies has arrived in Beirut by air, with more medical supplies expected to arrive too, according to the UN spokesmen.
"Given the worsening humanitarian needs, Imran Riza, the UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, today announced an additional two million [U.S.] dollars from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund to address the deteriorating situation, bringing the total allocation to 12 million [U.S.] dollars so far," Dujarric said.
"Meanwhile on the health front, the World Health Organization announced today that the first flight with WHO medical supplies – enough to treat tens of thousands of injured people – has arrived in Beirut. More flights are planned for today and in the coming days," he said.
