“I would say the first two weeks of the crisis really set us back. But now we are getting bookings for scheduled cargo commercially and we can start getting supplies out like we did in the past,” said Robert Blanchard, head of WHO’s emergency operations team at the Dubai Logistics Centre.
After a “significant reduction” in air travel across the region following the outbreak of war on February 28, most airlines in the Gulf “are now back to around 50 or 60 percent capacity,” he explained, noting that more charter flights will speed up the delivery of supplies, in addition to an Egypt-bound convoy that will carry vital medicines for Gaza.
Buried under rubble in Iran
Meanwhile, from Iran, UN partner the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies highlighted the “rapidly deteriorating” impact of the attacks on the capital, Tehran, “a city of approximately nine million people (that) feels completely empty.”
“While Tehran still maintains some basic services, some cities in the south are facing water and electricity outages. Not to mention the fact that we have had a countrywide internet blackout since February 28,” said María Martínez, head of the International Federation’s delegation in Iran.
The humanitarian official described how an International Federation search and rescue worker “discovered the bodies of his own family under the rubble.”
Furthermore, “in Qom, another rescuer recovered his aunt and her husband along with a young child. This is the reality humanitarian workers face as they save lives while enduring unimaginable personal losses.”
According to the WHO’s healthcare attacks monitor, there have been 21 attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Iran since the war began. Ms Martínez noted that 17 Red Crescent centers have been attacked and almost 100 ambulances damaged or destroyed. “These are not just vehicles. They are often the only hope people have when bombs fall..”
Terror in the evacuation of Lebanon
From Lebanon, UN teams highlighted how civilians endure “intensified Israeli attacks” against targets linked to Hezbollah militants, who have continued to fire rockets at Israel since the war began.
There is often little warning about impending attacks.
“In the Bashura attack in central Beirut last week, a warning was issued, but maybe less than an hour before the attack and it was very early in the morning,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Lebanon.
He added that a second strike “near several collective shelters that host displaced (people)” gave “without warning, he was a direct target…as far as I know, there has been no designated safe location that civilians have been advised to go to.”
Echoing those concerns, Marcoluigi Corsi, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Lebanon, insisted that “there is no safe space” for people to go, including the capital, Beirut. “Although the assessment order has been issued for the southern part of Beirut… the attacks actually occur in other parts of Beirut as well,” he said.
More than a million people have fled their homes in Lebanon in just a few weeks, UN aid teams say, highlighting the trauma of the unrest.
“I have met women and girls forced to make devastating decisions, fleeing their homes at night with no clear destination, losing all of their families’ livelihoods and leaving behind their sense of security and everything familiar,” said Gielan El Messiri, UN Women Representative in Lebanon.
Blown up bridges
The destruction of bridges in southern Lebanon by the Israeli army has created serious humanitarian and security concerns.
“Access… is also becoming increasingly difficult because the destruction of key bridges in the south has isolated entire districts, cutting off more than 150,000 people and severely limiting humanitarian access with essential items to reach them,” UNHCR’s Ms Billing added.
He said that from March 2 to 23, more than 15 humanitarian operations have brought essential relief items to people still in the south. “But there have also been some of these convoys where the notification was not approved. Therefore, we could not continue with it because of the security risks. One, for example, last week was not approved and then could continue a couple of days later.”