On April 8, deadly Israeli strikes hit central Beirut, Lebanon despite a ceasefire announcement in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. More than 250 people were killed.
“It underlined the huge, huge cost on civilians that this conflict has been having,” Imran Riza, deputy special coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon at the United Nations, told Boston Public Radio on Monday.
Riza spoke to BPR ahead of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington, D.C. this week.
The humanitarian crisis is growing since conflict between Lebanon and Israel resumed, following the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. The UN estimates more than one million people have been displaced from southern Lebanon since then — close to 400,000 are children.
Many also had to leave their homes in 2024 when Israel launched airstrikes across Lebanon against the militant group Hezbollah, Riza said.
“They didn’t really get any recovery or reconstruction happening or any sense of safety in these last 15 months of the cessation of hostilities,” Riza said.
President Donald Trump announced on April 7 that the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire deal. Those displaced people began to move back south, thinking they could head home, Riza said. But a day later, Israel launched more airstrikes.
“There’s a great deal of confusion amongst people as to what applies or does not apply [to the ceasefire],” Riza said. “They are thinking, 'When can we go home?’”
The violence also disrupts education. Displaced people are sheltering in public school buildings, which creates a “double whammy” for the displaced children in the shelter, and the kids who would normally go to those schools, Riza explained.
It’s also been more difficult to get resources to people across the country. Whether it be food and water, to psychological services for trauma. “What we’re able to do is ...far more difficult and far more expensive right now without the resources coming in,” Riza said.
