Lebanon could face same ‘spiral of doom’

UN humanitarian officials yesterday called 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 offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,965 people, mostly civilians. The UN has said the figures are reliable.

The resulting conflict 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 offensive in Gaza has continued and neighbourhoods have been decimated and pounded, and that is deep in their gut, in their hearts, in their minds”.