UN News Today 04 March 2026 |

Lebanon: families fleeing Israeli airstrikes have almost nothing

As bombs, missiles and drones continue to fall across the Middle East launched by Israel, Iran and the US, families in Lebanon are fleeing the violence in need of almost everything.

The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is on the ground providing emergency assistance to the newly displaced.

They include residents of villages in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut who are now sheltering in schools.

Citing data from the Lebanese authorities, UNICEF said that seven children have been killed and 38 injured in the past 24 hours in airstrikes by Israel, as it continues its campaign against Hezbollah militants.

Almost 60,000 people fled their homes in a single day, the UN agency noted, while around 11,000 crossed the Lebanese border to Syria on Monday alone, according to UN refugee agency data. 

Immense needs in Gaza, warn aid teams

To Gaza, where the UN aid coordination agency, OCHA, has warned of the growing impact on Palestinians in the war-torn enclave – and in the occupied West Bank.

Kerem Shalom crossing in the south of Gaza has been reopened by Israeli authorities, but Rafah – a key access point from Egypt – remains closed.

That means that all medical evacuations have now come to a halt, said Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for OCHA.

She told UN News that some relief items reached Gaza yesterday and more was expected on Wednesday:

“However, we must emphasise that more crossings must be open for us to be able to have sustained and predictable and unimpeded access to be able to continue scaling up our assistance to meet the immense needs of the population.”

The situation is increasingly difficult for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as most checkpoints remain closed, according to OCHA.

This has severely limited Palestinians’ access to services and work – and aid teams’ ability to reach people in need.

Imprisoned Iranian protesters face ‘expedited’ executions

Staying with the Middle East crisis, a top Human Rights Council probe warned that Iranian prisoners – including detained protesters – face expedited death penalty proceedings.

The Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, which was created by the council in 2022, cited credible reports “that many [prisoners in Iran] are at serious risk of torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearances”.

Tens of thousands of Iranian demonstrators were arrested during mass anti-Government demonstrations that began last December and were swiftly quashed, with thousands believed to have been killed.

“Several (demonstrators) face execution, in violation of international due process and fair trial rights and the right to life”, the fact-finding mission said, as it warned against a repeat of military attacks on Iranian detention facilities, such as the Israeli strike on Evin Prison last June.

Daniel Johnson, UN News