UN News Today 27 November 2024 |

Lebanon ceasefire deal: displaced communities start to return home

As the Lebanon ceasefire deal entered into force early Wednesday, UN humanitarians committed to supporting people uprooted by the war reported that many have already started returning home.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said that “immediately after the ceasefire came into force at 4am, residents of south Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa [valley] began their return after months of forced displacement”.

The UN agency welcomed the ceasefire agreement and said that it would continue to provide essential assistance to displaced people now faced with rebuilding their lives after suffering loss and destruction.

With more, here’s Lisa Abou Khaled from UNHCR in Lebanon:

“UNHCR welcomes the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. We hope it can put an end to the violence, destruction, and immense suffering…Today, on the very first day of the ceasefire, 11 UNHCR trucks delivered blankets, mattresses, winter jackets, plastic sheets, solar lamps and sleeping mats and more to 3,000 people in Baalbek. We will continue providing essential assistance to affected people to help them stay warm and safe this winter.”

The ceasefire development comes after months of relatively low-level exchanges of fire across the UN-patrolled Blue Line separating Hezbollah armed militants in Lebanon from Israel escalated into full-blown war in September, killing thousands of civilians and uprooting more than 886,000 people, according to the UN migration agency, IOM.

The Lebanon ceasefire deal is based on the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, facilitated by UN peacekeepers UNIFIL and bolstered by an international monitoring committee.

North Gaza zones under siege for more than 50 days: UNRWA

Meanwhile in Gaza, not a day goes by without bombardment and drone reconnaissance flights over devastated communities that are weary from more than 13 months of war, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has reported.

In a fresh alert on Wednesday, UNRWA said that some northern areas of the enclave have been under siege for more than 50 days, while missions to the north from Gaza City continue to be denied permission.

Deeply worrying updates about stricken Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia have also been shared by the UN health agency, WHO, which said that it has just three days’ supply of fuel left.

Here’s WHO spokesperson, Dr Margaret Harris.

“The hospital has 55 in-patients now including 13 children and five in intensive care. These are patients are two children and three adults in intensive care. The hospitals currently run simply by 12 general practitioners and 70 nurses, most of them volunteers…the hospital is in dire need of emergency medical teams to relieve the overworked nurses and doctors and also to provide more specialist expertise. They also need blood units, medical supplies, food and fuel.”

Dr. Harris said that the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, managed to deliver ready to use food for highly malnourished children but its aid team was not allowed to take high energy biscuits.

International Criminal Court Prosecutor seeks arrest of Myanmar’s top general

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked judges for an arrest warrant for top Myanmar regime general Min Aung Hlaing.

The general is commander-in-chief of the junta that seized power in a coup in February 2021.

He faces accusations of crimes against humanity including against Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya community, many hundreds of thousands of whom fled military persecution in 2017, finding sanctuary in Bangladesh, where they remain.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said in court papers that further arrest warrants for other high-level Myanmar officials will follow.

The International Criminal Court is not part of the United Nations but both organizations have a cooperative and complementary relationship.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.

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