UN humanitarian chief criticizes Israel-Hezbollah conflict

UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland on Saturday criticized the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and said Lebanon was suffereing a major humanitarian crisis due to the "senseless war."

Egeland, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs who was in Cyprus on his way to Lebanon to launch an emergency aid appeal, condemned both Israel and the Lebanon-based militia group Hezbollah for a looming humanitarian catastrophe.

Terming the ongoing conflict "a senseless war," Egeland urged both sides to stop it and complained of the difficulties of bringing emergency humanitarian aid into Lebanon.

Egeland made the remarks as Israel continued its bombardment on Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border attack on July 12.

Hundreds of people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict and thousands of foreign nationals have been evacuated from the country.

Egeland said the United Nations wanted to set up safe passages and use the Cyprus-Beirut shipping route to deliver aid. The world body also wanted to use the roads and air passage for bringing in aid, he added.

The Beirut airport was shut down after the violence began.

Egeland will be flown to Beirut early Sunday to launch a UN flash appeal that will address the most pressing humanitarian concerns for a period of three months.

He will then head to Israel on Tuesday and the Gaza Strip.

Source: Xinhua