UN Relief Chief tells Security Council: An "exhausted" Lebanon "is not asking for help, but for oxygen"

Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Lebanon by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator 

 11 March 2026

 As delivered

Mr. President, Ambassadors, Excellencies,

This is a moment of grave peril for Lebanon, and for the region. For all of us. Too many warning lights are flashing. Actions have consequences.

Lebanon’s particular place on the map and in history means that tremors in geopolitics ricochet through it like earthquakes.

So, when the world turns away from international law and human solidarity, Lebanon shakes. When the world pulls apart, when the splintering of the international order is cheered on by those who believe the rules do not apply to them or that they can take risks with the lives of others, when leaders feel unrestrained and the rules are in retreat, when the gains of decades are precarious, when technology and killing form an increasingly deadly alliance and when the scaffolding for coexistence is under sustained, deliberate attack … then Lebanon shakes.

As a result of the region’s latest war, and following months of violence, we have watched the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon intensify with alarming speed, with civilians on both sides of the Blue Line once again paying the heaviest price.

Casualties continue to mount. Over 570 people reported killed, and over 1,400 injured since 2 March.

Mass displacement is accelerating, with over 750,000 people now registered with the Government of Lebanon as on the move. In addition, almost 84,000 Syrians and more than 8,000 Lebanese have crossed into Syria since 2 March.

We are seeing large-scale movements into densely populated urban areas where shelter capacity is already overstretched. More than 120,000 people, including thousands of children, are now in 580 collective centres.

And as you heard earlier, these sites are overcrowded, with inadequate sanitation and insufficient essential supplies. These conditions heighten risks of harassment, sexual violence, exploitation, abuse, and trafficking, particularly of course, for women and girls.

The people of Lebanon, of course, had already endured extensive displacement and damage to homes and livelihoods, infrastructure and essential public services during the 2023-2024 escalation, compounding the impact of the financial and economic collapse experienced since 2019.

At the same time, the escalation is pushing an already fragile education system deeper into crisis. Schools have been forced to close to serve as temporary shelters, disrupting learning for tens of thousands of children.

Overcrowded shelters are also raising the risk of disease, while psychosocial trauma, an acute aspect of this crisis since the 2024 escalation, is being compounded.

As these health needs rise, hostilities have forced the closure of 49 primary health care centres and five hospitals in the South and in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Since 28 February, the World Health Organization has recorded 25 attacks on healthcare, resulting in 16 deaths and 29 injuries among health workers and patients.

The protection of healthcare is paramount.

Mr. President,

The United Nations and the broader humanitarian community are fully mobilized to complement government-led efforts. Along with local organizations and women-led groups, we will do all we can to reach those most in need. 

We and our partners have provided over 500,000 hot meals, distributed over 270,000 litres of bottled water, provided hygiene items and household supplies – and 123,000 litres of fuel to sustain critical services.

Our Rapid Response Teams are delivering life-saving supplies in shelters, 125 Health Sector-supported mobile primary healthcare units are providing services too. Child protection and psychosocial support are being expanded, alongside preparations for emergency cash assistance for vulnerable children and families.

In close coordination with the Government of Lebanon, a three-month, hyper-prioritized Flash Appeal will be launched in Beirut later this week. This emergency scale-up comes on top of existing humanitarian programmes under the 2026 Lebanon Response Plan. 

I will support these efforts with a rapid response allocation of US$15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to help scale up life-saving work. Additional funds will be released through a reserve allocation from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund.

But our ability to reach people is tightening by the day. Large areas of South Lebanon, the Bekaa and Beirut’s southern suburbs remain active conflict zones. Debris and unexploded ordnance are blocking roads to affected villages, and key transport routes, including those linking the Bekaa, have been repeatedly disrupted. Population movements are shifting quickly and increasingly difficult to track.

Of course, Lebanon’s latest humanitarian crisis is just one more consequence of a regional war that is spiralling out of control. War does not stay neatly within borders. It tears through markets, supply chains and food prices.

And when that happens, the most vulnerable people in Lebanon and across the region are hit first – and hardest. When maritime corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted, food, health, energy become more expensive and harder to access. Impact on food security is already evident in Gaza, where the price of flour is up by 270 per cent. Global shipping costs have increased 16 per cent compared to this time last year. We anticipate delays of six months in the delivery of supplies across multiple humanitarian responses. Airspace closures are also disrupting humanitarian missions across the region.

We are pre-positioning stocks and activating alternative supply routes to keep life-saving aid moving to Lebanon and across the region.

As the Secretary-General [António Guterres], has insisted and Under-Secretary-General [for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary] Di Carlo underlined, we need the protection of civilians, de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and genuine dialogue and negotiations towards a peaceful settlement, in line with the Charter of the United Nations.

As ever I close with three asks.

First: civilians – all civilians throughout the region – must be protected and their access to life-saving help ensured. Constant care must be taken to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure – hospitals, water sources, schools, energy – at all times, and by all parties. Humanitarians and humanitarian premises must be protected and our movements to provide aid facilitated.

Today has been another tragic day for our humanitarian family. We are seeing civilians, including humanitarian workers, under attack across the region, in Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Oman and beyond.

Second, we need generous funding for a principled, scaled-up humanitarian response. We must be supported to go wherever the needs are in the region. I have reaffirmed our readiness to help civilians in Lebanon, Iran, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel or any other countries as needed. Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war, but this is of course when it is most needed. So, we count on Member States to help ensure that life-saving work continues in the Middle East and beyond, across the global humanitarian crisis.

And yet we are seeing staggering amounts of money – reportedly a billion dollars a day – spent on destruction, while some politicians boast of cutting aid to those in gravest danger globally. With a fraction of this money, we can save millions of lives globally.

Third and finally, we need a revival of strategic, calm, rational, hopeful diplomacy. We need calmer heads to prevail. Peacemaking is hard. But it is always better – and takes more courage – than the alternative. Every time you hear the powerful attack the UN, ask yourself what they gained by weakening us.

And yet we are seeing a sustained attack against the systems meant to restrain States from reckless warfare, a pattern of attrition against international law and humanitarian principles. Politicians flexing their muscles by sending others to die. As conflicts spread, the international system pulls further apart and more resources flow towards weapons, not saving lives.

A simple test for your actions: if your opponent were doing this to you, what would you say?

Let’s have the courage to recommit instead to lasting peace, sustained stability, dependable governance, and international law. 

Mr. President, excellencies,

Lebanon is exhausted by other people’s wars. It is not asking for help, but for oxygen. Its people can defy the history, the geography, even the politics. They can be stronger than the forces pulling them apart. But they can only do that if Iran and Israel stop fighting their war in Lebanon.

Thank you, Mr. President.