Beirut/Geneva, 7 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, issued a call for donations for the people of Lebanon as he visited emergency shelters for displaced people in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

"I’ve witnessed today the tragic toll this war is taking on entire communities," said Grandi. "International humanitarian law must be respected and cannot be ignored. Families have been left homeless, stranded in the open air with traumatized children unable to understand what’s happening."

"They all told me how desperate they are to feel safe, and for the airstrikes to stop so they can return to their towns and villages," he said,

Some 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon since Israel intensified operations against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia two weeks ago, the government says.

There is little space for more people in the emergency shelters in schools and other buildings, set up in haste.

Grandi said the world must help Lebanon in this hour of greatest need. He called for donations of $425.7 million to help displaced people through to the end of the year.