UN Flags Lebanon Fire, Gaza Aid

United Nations officials said on Thursday that security along Lebanon’s Blue Line has deteriorated sharply even as aid teams in Gaza collected a large consignment of supplies and confirmed that more than 13,000 patients have been evacuated from the enclave since October 2023.

Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that UNIFIL peacekeepers recorded 56 projectiles from Israeli forces on 1 September and 84 the following day. Violence had already risen through August after a fragile lull that followed a Framework Agreement in late June. No projectile launches by Hezbollah have been detected since 21 June, he said. Peacekeepers continue to log daily Israeli airspace violations, airstrikes, ground activity and naval operations.

Of particular concern, Dujarric said, is the “continued consolidation and fortification of Israeli positions” north of the Blue Line, including new infrastructure and engineering works. Peacekeepers have also seen people who appear to be Israeli civilian personnel carrying out demolition in support of military operations. “There is extensive Israeli military presence north of the Blue Line, which constitutes a violation of Security Council resolution 1701 and of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. He repeated the UN call for the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw from all positions north of the line.

UNIFIL still coordinated 20 humanitarian missions between Monday and Wednesday, 16 of them in the mission’s western sector, including food distributions to displaced families.

In Gaza, UN teams on Wednesday collected hundreds of pallets at the Kerem Shalom – Karem Abu Salem crossing, including infant food, school bags and adult diapers. The World Health Organization said it and its partners have supported the medical evacuation of more than 13,000 patients since October 2023, including more than 6,000 children. Thousands more still need specialised care that is unavailable inside the strip. WHO called for the West Bank referral pathway, including hospitals in East Jerusalem, to be reopened.

Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN special coordinator and humanitarian chief for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, ended a three-day visit to Gaza on Thursday that included the Emirati Field Hospital in Rafah. He said preparations for the rainy season and winter are urgent and require donor support as well as the lifting of Israeli restrictions on items such as engine oil for sewage plants. Ambulances and medical equipment remain among goods blocked from entering, Dujarric said, and “must be urgently allowed in.”