UN rights chief calls for diplomatic efforts to address Lebanon crisis
By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday called on anyone with influence in the Middle East to seek to avert an escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as intensifying cross-border attacks increased fears of a full-blown war.
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and its Iran-backed arch-foe attacked military facilities in northern Israel on Tuesday, after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in decades with more than 500 people killed.
"UN High Commissioner Volker Turk calls on all states and actors with influence in the region and beyond to avert further escalation and do everything they can to ensure full respect for international law," Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for Turk said at a Geneva press briefing.
"The methods and means of warfare that are being used raise very serious concerns about whether this is compliant with international humanitarian law," she added.
Asked about reports that Israel had warned people through phone messages ahead of the strikes, she said: "Whether you've sent out a warning you're telling civilians to flee doesn't make it okay to then strike those areas, knowing full well that the impact on civilians will be huge."
At the same press briefing, Abdinasir Abubakar, a World Health Organization (WHO) official in Lebanon, said that some hospitals in the country were "overwhelmed" by the thousands of wounded people arriving. At least four healthcare workers had been killed on Monday, he added.
"We have some evidence, and we have some documentation that shows that at least there were some attacks on health facilities, even the ambulances as well," he told the briefing, condemning the impact on Lebanon's fragile health sector.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Lebanon's people on Monday, saying: "Israel's war is not with you, it's with Hezbollah." For too long Hezbollah has been using you as human shields."
The U.N. refugee agency's spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said more people are expected to flee their homes and that the agency is seeking to identify new shelters for displaced people around Beirut and the Bekaa valley.
"We're looking at tens of thousands (of displaced), but we expect that those figures will start to rise," he said. "The situation is extremely alarming. It's very chaotic, and we are doing what we can to support the government."
Schools have been closed across the country as some facilities have been transformed into shelters, said Ettie Higgins, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Lebanon.
"This is leaving many children at home or in shelters in total fear," she said. Hundreds of other children had travelled out of southern areas overnight, she added, some with no belongings besides the clothes they were wearing.
(Reporting by Emma FargeEditing by Madeline Chambers, Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)
