admin Aid agency the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Friday that 300,000 people in Lebanon had been forced to flee after Israel launched a wave of evacuation orders and airstrikes.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned on Friday that “a humanitarian disaster is looming” due to mass displacement.
The Norwegian aid agency also questioned the legality of the mass-evacuation orders Israel had issued there. The orders cover hundreds of villages in South Lebanon, as well as villages in the Bekaa region and the southern suburbs of Beirut, constituting a large area of Lebanese territory.
It added that the number of people who might be displaced could potentially exceed one million.
“Israel’s evacuation orders demanding civilians leave multiple areas of Lebanon raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the forcible transfer of civilian populations,” the NRC said.
“These orders do not appear to have military justification and provide no guarantee of safe passage or support for those fleeing and compound the suffering of hundreds of thousands of families.”
An explosion on Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike on Friday. Reuters
The organisation insisted that civilians be protected, including those who choose to remain or are not able to relocate.
DEATH TOLL HITS 217
Lebanon’s health ministry said Friday at least 217 people had been killed and 798 wounded since the start of a new war between Israel and Hizbollah on Monday.
The Israeli military renewed its strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday afternoon, Lebanese state media reported, following night raids that left heavy damage in the area after residents fled en masse in response to Israeli evacuation warnings.
A live broadcast by AFP showed plumes of smoke rising above buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a typically densely populated area where Hizbollah holds sway.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Reuters
Speaking to foreign ambassadors on Friday, PM Salam said “the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented.”
“Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose,” Salam said.
“Those who were forced to leave their homes are not and should not be held responsible for the suffering inflicted on them,” he added.
On Friday, in a message posted in Hebrew on the group’s Telegram channels, Hezbollah told Israelis to evacuate all localities “located within 5 kilometres of the border.”
Agence France-Presse
