UN warns Lebanon could face same 'spiral of doom'

UN humanitarian officials called Tuesday for urgent action to stop the escalating conflict in Lebanon from spiralling into a similar scene of devastation as seen in Gaza.

"We need to do everything we can to stop that from happening," said Matthew Hollingworth, Lebanon country director for the United Nations' World Food Programme.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Beirut, he said he had spent the first half of the year coordinating WFP's operations in Gaza before taking the helm of its Lebanon office, and was deeply concerned by the similarities.

"It is in my mind from the time I wake until the time I sleep, that we could go into the same sort of spiral of doom... We shouldn't allow that to happen," he said.

Israel's war in Gaza, launched after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel, has killed more than 41,900 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN has said the figures are reliable.

The October 7 attack left 1,206 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which include hostages killed in captivity.

The resulting conflict has spilled into Lebanon, with intensifying airstrikes and Israeli troops battling Hezbollah militants on the ground.

Israel's bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 1,100 people and displaced upwards of a million in less than two weeks.

Hollingworth said many people were fleeing because they "have watched over the last year as the war in Gaza has continued and neighbourhoods have been decimated and pounded, and that is deep in their gut, in their hearts, in their minds".

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, warned that "the commonalities are unfortunately absolutely there to be seen, whether it is displacement on the ground, impact upon children or language being used ... (to) soften the realities on the ground".

"We are seeing the same patterns that we saw in Gaza," Jeremy Laurence of the UN rights office added.

"The devastation is beyond belief for all people in Lebanon as it is in Gaza. We can't let this happen again."