Escalating tensions in Beirut and intensified attacks in southern Lebanon are plunging families into fear and uncertainty, forcing many to make impossible choices in their pursuit of safety.
Health Facilities Targeted
Weekend airstrikes damaged a UNFPA-supported primary health center and a women and girls safe space in southern Lebanon, one of the few facilities serving the area, UNFPA Lebanon Country Representative Anandita Philipose informed journalists via video link from Cairo, Egypt, to New York.
Another attack damaged a public hospital providing maternal health services. Among the displaced are an estimated 13,500 pregnant women, with 1,500 expected to give birth within the next 30 days.
UNFPA warned that approximately 1,500 women are stranded in southern Lebanon without access to skilled care or safe delivery spaces.
“When maternity wards and hospitals are damaged and destroyed, it is pregnant women who are cut off from life-saving services,” Philipose stated.
Unsafe Shelters for Displaced
Concerns were also raised about deteriorating shelter conditions for displaced individuals.
Safety assessments revealed conditions of overcrowding, poor lighting, lack of privacy, and unsafe sanitation facilities, increasing the risk of gender-based violence, particularly for adolescent girls, female-headed households, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.
UNFPA, in collaboration with local partners and Lebanese authorities, continues to provide mobile maternal health services, psychosocial support, and protection assistance.
Urgent Funding Appeal
However, Philipose cautioned that humanitarian consequences could rapidly deepen without urgent and sustainable funding.
The agency’s initial emergency appeal was only 30% funded, and it is now requesting $25 million to sustain operations through August.
Philipose indicated that if funding remains insufficient, thousands of pregnant women could lose access to skilled birth attendance and emergency maternal health services, and mobile teams serving hard-to-reach communities might have to reduce or cease operations entirely.
“Scaling back our operations would mean denying over 75,000 women critical gender-based violence protection, case management, and safe spaces when they need it most.”
