UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Israel extended the Beirut southern suburbs' evacuation order on Thursday to include the largest public hospital in Lebanon, refugee camps, displaced shelters, UN and NGO offices, UN humanitarians said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the displacement order was extended to the area that includes two Palestinian refugee camps, 13 collective shelters hosting more than 6,000 people, offices for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency and several national and international NGOs, as well as the Rafik Hariri Governmental Hospital, the biggest public hospital in the country.
"It also covers more than 20 locations used by our humanitarian partners to deliver aid and services to people in need," said OCHA.
The office said flags on government buildings and UN offices were flying at half-mast following Wednesday's deadly wave of Israeli airstrikes across Beirut, Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon. Authorities reported that more than 200 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, overwhelming hospitals. Many others are still feared to be trapped under the rubble.
The UN Office for Human Rights described one of the strike sites in Beirut as "horrific and a scene of devastation, with multiple bodies recovered from the rubble." Humanitarian partners said that strikes continued overnight and on Thursday, with air raids on areas in the southern suburbs.
"Reports of the destruction of the Qasmiyeh coastal bridge in southern Lebanon have further isolated areas south of the Litani River, restricting people's movement and humanitarian access for at least 106,000 people," OCHA said. ■
