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STORY: UN / LEBANON ATTACKS
TRT: 03:24
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 08 APRIL 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
08 APRIL 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Riza, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations:
“There was an early morning airstrike last night, early this morning at a cafe in Saida. And it was on the corniche of Saida that killed eight people. there were also more than a dozen airstrikes that were reported in the first half of today, before the major escalation. And then, of course, around 2:15 local time, the IDF reported carrying out a wave of over 100 airstrikes in something like ten minutes.”
5. Wide shot, press room dais
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Riza, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations:
“The irony is, this morning you actually had people that were because they heard of the cease fire, people started moving down. They started moving towards the south, not numbers like in 2024. But some people started moving. And the message from the government, was very strongly, please don't move yet. We don't know what's happening.”
7. Wide shot, press room dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Riza, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations:
“So, since the start of this escalation, as you know, on the 2nd of March, we've now reached over 1,500 people killed. It's 1,530, according to the Ministry of Public Health. This includes 130 children killed and 461 children injured. It is a huge civilian tragedy. There's absolutely no doubt about it. The displacement also has reached an unprecedented scale, it's some close to 1.2 million, which means nearly 20 percent, 1 in 5 persons in Lebanon are now displaced.”
9. Wide shot, press room dais
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Riza, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations:
“But then you also have people that either have chosen not to leave their villages in the south, in particular, or are unable, feel trapped over there for other reasons. And many of them are not leaving because they're afraid that they won't be able to return. And our estimation is somewhere between 110 to 130, 140,000 people are in in in that category.”
11. Wide shot, press room dais
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Riza, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations:
“There have been more than 106 incidents reported, resulting in 57 deaths and 158 injuries among health workers. So, not only are these health workers being killed, but the ability of the health system to respond is also weakened in that process. Many health facilities have been forced to close while others are damaged or overwhelmed. At least 51 health care centres and six hospitals have closed. And as I was mentioning, many others are damaged. This is, of course, limiting, access to life saving assistance when it is most needed. Education has been severely disrupted. Public schools and the Lebanese University, which is the national university, are being used as shelters. So, learning interrupted for thousands of students.”
13. Wide shot, end of briefing
Briefing from Beirut, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, today (8 Apr) described the events in Lebanon as a “huge civilian tragedy,” with over 1,500 people killed, and displacement at “an unprecedented scale.”
Riza told reporters in New York that an airstrike at a cafe on the corniche of Saida killed eight people early in the morning, and “there were also more than a dozen airstrikes that were reported in the first half of today, before the major escalation.”
Then, he said, at around 2:15 local time, “the IDF reported carrying out a wave of over 100 airstrikes in something like ten minutes.”
Following last night’s announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and the United States, Riza said, people had “started moving towards the south, not numbers like in 2024. But some people started moving. And the message from the government, was very strongly, please don't move yet. We don't know what's happening.”
Since the start of this escalation on the 2nd of March, he said, “we've now reached over 1,500 people killed. It's 1,530, according to the Ministry of Public Health,” including 130 children killed and 461 children injured, while “close to 1.2 million, which means nearly 20 percent, 1 in 5 persons in Lebanon are now displaced.”
The humanitarian official said, “you also have people that either have chosen not to leave their villages in the south, in particular, or are unable, feel trapped over there for other reasons. And many of them are not leaving because they're afraid that they won't be able to return. And our estimation is somewhere between 110 to 130, 140,000 people are in in in that category.”
He also reported “more than 106 incidents” of attacks on health facilities, “resulting in 57 deaths and 158 injuries among health workers.”
Riza said, “not only are these health workers being killed, but the ability of the health system to respond is also weakened in that process. Many health facilities have been forced to close while others are damaged or overwhelmed. At least 51 health care centres and six hospitals have closed. And as I was mentioning, many others are damaged.”
Education, he said, “has been severely disrupted” as “public schools and the Lebanese University, which is the national university, are being used as shelters. So, learning interrupted for thousands of students.”
Less than one third of the Lebanon Flash Appeal, which calls for $308 million, has so far been funded.
