UNHCR chief calls for 'urgent' support to Lebanon during war

United Nations refugee chief Barham Salih on Wednesday called on the international community to provide urgent support to Lebanon, with a fifth of the country's population displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"I call upon the international community to provide urgent support and relief to Lebanon," he said after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

"The humanitarian consequences of this war are immense, and I emphasize the need to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure from the ravages of attack. Lebanon does not deserve to be trapped in a recurring cycle of violence; it deserves support and stability."

He added that UNHCR has received "a portion" of the $61 million it had appealed for during the war to support Lebanon in its "unprecedented" displacement crisis, as more than a million people, or a fifth of the Lebanese population, are displaced by the conflict.

Of them, more than 140,000 are in government shelters.

The $61 million is part of the Lebanon Flash Appeal, launched by UN chief Antonio Guterres last month to gather $308 million to help the country.

War-ravaged Lebanon has been dealing with an unprecedented financial crisis since 2019 and was still reeling from the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war when the Iran-backed group drew it into the Middle East conflict last month.