MIDDLE EAST LIVE 23 March: Civilians bear brunt of ongoing war
- UNAA
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
23rd March 2026
The war in the Middle East is well into its fourth week and the humanitarian emergency it has sparked continues to be the focus of international attention, along with the energy crisis caused by attacks on shipping in key Strait of Hormuz and other oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf region.
HIGHLIGHTS
Shipping squeeze still in place in crucial Strait of Hormuz chokepoint
President Donald Trump says he's postponing strikes on Iran's energy facilities following 'productive' US-Iran talks on ending the war. Iran has denied holding negotiations
Thousands of seafarers remain stranded in the Persian Gulf
Deadly attacks and mass displacement misery continue in Lebanon, while UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL's headquarters have been hit, escalating the immediate risk to all personnel
Mass casualty event in Israeli town after Iran strikes
Lebanon: WHO reports 64 attacks on healthcare facilities as displacement continues to surge. More than 130,000 people, including some 46,000 children, are currently sheltering in more than 600 sites.
Cultural fallout: Since the outbreak of war on 28 February the UN culture agency UNESCO says several unique and historic sites have been damaged in Iran, Israel and Lebanon.
UN Secretary-General condemns escalating attacks by Israeli settlers in West Bank
The UN Secretary-General has condemned recent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians on their property in the occupied West Bank.
"These near-daily attacks by Israeli settlers have become increasingly severe, resulting in deaths, injuries and significant property damage, and the displacement, sometimes of entire communities," UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told the media on Monday.
Flagrant violation of international law
The Secretary-General reiterates that Israeli settlements and related infrastructure "have no legal validity [and] are in flagrant violation of international law, including applicable UN resolutions."
António Guterres calls for "an urgent de-escalation of the alarming situation in the occupied West Bank, and an end to attacks on civilians and their property" and urges the government of Israel to "implement concrete measures to reverse the current trajectory in the occupied West Bank."
‘There’s a fear that the situation is going to get worse in Lebanon before it gets better’: UNICEF’s Ted Chaiban
Briefing the media at UN Headquarters in New York, following a recent visit to Lebanon, Ted Chaiban, deputy chief of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that a further descent into a wider and more protracted conflict in the Middle East would be catastrophic for millions more children.
Since the beginning of the most recent escalation, more than 2,100 children have been killed or injured, including 206 children killed in Iran, 118 in Lebanon, four in Israel, and one in Kuwait.
"Behind these numbers are parents, grandparents, teachers, brothers and sisters, communities, cities," he said, adding that nations are in shock.
According to UNICEF, across the Middle East, around 44.8 million children were already living in conflict-affected settings before this war, and the consequences of what is unfolding now will be long-lasting for them.
Calling for the protection of civilians, schools, hospitals, and children, Mr. Chaiban said he returned from Lebanon with an even deeper sense of urgency.
"At a hospital in Beirut, I met a 14-year-old called Nour, who was being treated for severe injuries after her home was bombed. She told us she was sleeping in her room, and she woke up to find stones and rubble on top of her. She was screaming. The people around her were screaming too. Everyone around her in her family was injured. She felt like her heart was pushing her to scream, so help would come. She was pulled from under the rubble and is now recovering at this hospital. But hundreds of children didn’t have the same luck."
Full remarks here.
Lebanon: Health facilities under attack
Speaking to the press at UN Headquarters in New York, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that the UN is "deeply concerned about the continuing attacks on healthcare, including health workers, health facilities, and ambulances".
As of Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports 64 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 51 deaths and 91 injuries, further straining an already fragile health system.
Addressing displacement, he added that humanitarian updates indicate that 1.2 million people — around one in every five residents — have been forced to flee their homes.
More than 130,000 people, including some 46,000 children, are currently sheltering in over 600 collective sites nationwide, most of which are already at full capacity.
"Our humanitarian colleagues warned that these figures will rise further as hostilities intensify, with Israeli authorities announcing plans to escalate ground operations along the Blue Line."
Displacement in Lebanon leaves children without basic needs; UNICEF scales up support
Children and families displaced by the conflict in Lebanon are living in overcrowded shelters, facing uncertainty and limited access to basic necessities.
The ongoing violence has forced large numbers of people from their homes, disrupting education and exposing children to heightened risks and psychological distress.
The UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, is responding on the ground by delivering essential supplies and providing psychosocial support, child protection services and access to education in shelters across the country.
“The violence must stop,” UNICEF warns, underscoring that children’s most urgent need is peace.
BREAKING: UN peacekeepers in Lebanon ‘at risk’ after headquarters hit
Over the past 48 hours, peacekeepers have recorded intense gunfire and explosions happening in and around the village of Naqoura, close to the UNIFIL mission’s headquarters.
“Bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters, putting peacekeepers at risk. As a result, peacekeepers have been restricted to shelters to avoid injury,” the UN has just said in a statement issued from UN Headquarters in New York.
Just before noon local time, UNIFIL headquarters was hit by a projectile and ‘blue helmets’ with bomb disposal expertise are working to defuse it, the UN added, saying that it was likely fired by a “non-State actor”.
“We remind all actors of their responsibility to ensure the ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers, and avoid any act, including combat activities, that could put them in harm's way.”
Millions of people around the world at risk, over three weeks on the war in the Middle East
The ongoing escalation in the Middle East is severely disrupting global supply chains, driving up the cost and reducing the availability of essential goods, fuel and medicines. Key shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, remain under threat, risking higher food and energy prices worldwide.
In a statement issued on Monday, Jorge Moreira da Silva, Executive Director for UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said that "developing countries in Asia and the African continent are likely to bear the heaviest brunt".
Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are hindering energy supplies and affecting fertiliser markets, increasing the risk of food insecurity in already vulnerable countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.
WFP pledges to sustain aid to Iran
The UN food agency has also said that despite the escalating conflict, it continues life-saving food and cash support in Iran.
In February, 33,317 Afghan and Iraqi refugees received assistance, though rations were reduced owing to funding shortfalls.
Iran hosts around 2.5 million forcibly displaced people, with more than 33,000 highly vulnerable refugees in 20 settlements nationwide who rely on sustained aid.
WFP has been on the ground in Iran since 1962 and is ready to scale support as needs grow, it said.
WFP scales up emergency cash support as displacement rises in Lebanon
Amid rapidly rising displacement in Lebanon, the World Food Programme is providing emergency cash assistance to nearly 60,000 families through the national Shock Responsive Safety Net, in coordination with the Government, ensuring rapid support from the early days of the crisis.
“The Lebanese have been through this crisis before. They’ve been displaced before.” said World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau during a recent visit to Lebanon.
“They are exhausted, they are afraid, and frankly there is a sense of desperation on the streets”, he added.
Cultural treasures in peril as war escalates
Since the outbreak of hostilities on 28 February, several unique sites of cultural significance have been damaged in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, alongside immense suffering, displacement and death.
In Iran, these sites include Golestan Palace, Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan, Masjed-e Jame mosque (also in Isfahan) and buildings located near the Prehistoric Sites of the Khorramabad Valley.
Israel’s White City of Tel-Aviv and Tyre in Lebanon have also been damaged, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
It warns that several other sites are also at risk, notably in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Fleeing airstrikes with nothing
Intensifying Israeli strikes across Lebanon beginning 2 March in response to Hezbollah rocket fire have uprooted well over 830,000 people.
'No military solution' to global supply chain crisis
The escalating war is disrupting global supply chains severely and driving up the cost of basic goods, deepening vulnerability worldwide, the head of the UN emergency operations office (UNOPS) warned on Monday.
Nearly a month into the conflict, Jorge Moreira da Silva said the fallout is being felt far beyond the region, with soaring oil, fuel and gas prices shaking the global economy.
Humanitarian operations are under pressure too, amid closures of airspace, shipping routes and key crossings, all hindering access to essential supplies, including medicines.
Attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz – a critical artery for global energy trade – risk further price spikes and delays.
Developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, are expected to be hardest hit, with disruptions to energy and fertiliser markets threatening food security.
“There is no military solution,” Mr. Moreira da Silva stressed, urging a renewed push for diplomacy to end the crisis.
BREAKING: UNICEF aid convoy heads to south Lebanon
We’ve been catching up with UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) colleagues in Beirut who tell us that an aid convoy is heading south right now.
It's carrying lifesaving supplies including hygiene kits, drinking water, first aid kits, water purification tablets and chlorine.
Reports of bombed bridges won’t make the aid delivery any easier, says the agency's Christophe Boulierac, but he insists that mission will happen anyway.
What the agency really needs is funding, he insists, as its $48 million appeal is only 14 per cent funded.
That could well be something that senior UNICEF official Ted Chaiban will be sharing with journalists at UN headquarters in New York later today, after the usual noon briefing.
Nuclear watchdog updates on Iran plant
The UN atomic energy agency, IAEA, has just reported talks between its Secretary-General, Rafael Grossi, and the head of Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom, whose technology is used in the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.
A strike on Wednesday 18 March around 350 metres from the Bushehr plant “hit and destroyed” a structure but there was no damage to the reactor nor injuries to staff, Mr. Grossi said at the time.
Strikes continue across region
There have been more reported strikes in Iran by Israel and the US, while Iranian missiles hit the southern Israeli cities of Dimona and Arad late Saturday.
Here’s video footage of one attack in Iran that was filmed on 3 March showing the Tehran neighbourhood of Narmak, located in the northeast of the capital.
Analysis: Strait of Hormuz fallout
We’ve been talking to economists at UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) about the impact of the ongoing shipping crunch in the Persian Gulf.
Motorists have already been hit by sharp fuel price hikes at the pump, as have people who rely on liquid gas for heating/air conditioning and cooking, as supply chains are squeezed.
But if the vital stretch of water that separates Iran in the north from Oman and the United Arab Emirates in the south isn’t reopened fully soon, harvests around the world could also be at risk, if fertilizers aren’t shipped from the Persian Gulf.
Read the full story here.
Exodus from southern Lebanon
Repeated evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military continue to impact communities in southern Lebanon, as hostilities continue to escalate south of the Litani River.
Villagers from Kawkaba (pictured) which is around five to six kilometres from the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel left their homes yesterday.
The Israeli orders to evacuate cover significant portions of southern Lebanon, parts of Beirut, border villages and the Bekaa.
Latest data from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, indicates more than 822,000 people registered as displaced, including nearly 300,000 children.
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