Israel's 'enormous' bombing of Beirut was less than 1km from Unicef office – Irish aid worker
Unicef Lebanon Deputy Representative Ettie Higgins: 'Over 1.2m people have been displaced just in the last three weeks alone.' Picture: Unicef/Jordan Lyon
There are going to be “major humanitarian consequences” from Israel’s attacks on Beirut, according to Unicef Lebanon’s deputy head, Ettie Higgins.
The Irish aid worker was speaking after the city endured its worst death toll from a single attack since Israel started bombing the country and sent in a number of troops and tanks last month.
According to the Lebanese public health ministry on Thursday night, 22 people were killed and 117 were wounded during Israeli attacks on the city.
They came just hours after an Israeli tank crew fired on peacekeepers in a watchtower in the south west of the country.
That attack, which led to the men being hospitalised, was one of a number in which UN peacekeeping bases — including the Unifil mission headquarters in Naqoura in southern Lebanon — have been hit.
The latest attack on Beirut hit densely-packed residential neighbourhoods of Nweiri and Basta in the heart of the Lebanese capital that had previously not been the subject of any attacks.
Ettie Higgins, who has worked in various war zones for Unicef for more than 10 years, said:
“Everyone around us was absolutely terrified, and have been every time the city has been struck over the last number of weeks.
"This intensification has major humanitarian consequences as well, which we're extremely concerned about.”
She said children had been killed in the bomb attacks but the total number had yet to be verified.
The native of Cobh, Co Cork, also said that five staff of one of Unicef’s humanitarian partners had lost their homes.
She added: “What is adding to it now is new waves of displacement and more homelessness. We're really struggling over the last few weeks with a huge displacement crisis.
“Many people have arrived in Beirut seeking safety. Over 1.2m people have been displaced just in the last three weeks alone."
“This is coming on top of what was already an extremely concerning humanitarian situation in Lebanon that's been hosting over 1.5 million Syrian refugees for the past decade, as well as a crippling economic collapse as well over the last five years.
“We're extremely concerned about the situation, overall, for over 350,000 children [who] have been impacted.
We're doing our best, but the resources are extremely constrained, given the massive enormity of what is [turning into] a humanitarian catastrophe in Lebanon at this time.”
