The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 08 October 2024
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UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
8 October 2024
War in Lebanon
Matthew Hollingworth, World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director in Lebanon, speaking from Beirut, said that Lebanon was facing extraordinary times. What had happened over the past weeks had been astonishing in terms of destruction and displacement. More than 1.2 million people were now affected by the crisis, with hundreds of thousands displaced, mostly from the south of Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Horrific cases of forced evacuations, sometimes only at a few hours’ notice, were way too numerous, said Mr. Hollingworth. There were currently 973 formal shelters in Beirut and the north, with over 200,000 people residing there; many of these shelters had reached full capacity. Displaced families had spoken of moving because they were extraordinarily fearful of what was yet to come. People in Lebanon had watched over a year how neighborhoods in Gaza had been decimated, which had also affected their decision to flee. WFP was managing to reach about 150,000 people per day with food rations; cash transfers were also being made daily, but as many as one million people might soon need help. There was an extraordinary concern of Lebanon being able to continue to feed itself, with large swathes of agricultural land in the south being bombed, damaged, and abandoned.
Moving forward, the WFP was building up to reach at least one million people, explained Mr. Hollingworth. For that to be possible, the current funding gap of USD 115 million would have to be filled. De-escalation was necessary. A diplomatic and political solution had to be found. Lebanon had already been very fragile, not least because of having hosted so many refugees. The country was tired, people were scared, and trauma was palpable. Prevention and de-escalation were absolutely needed now.
Ian Clarke, World Health Organization’s (WHO) Deputy Incident Manager, also connecting from Beirut, stated that the WHO was deeply concerned by the impact of the recent escalation of violence on the health system in Lebanon, including the rising number of attacks on health workers and facilities. Since 17 September, 16 attacks on health care had been recorded leaving behind 65 deaths and 40 injuries among health staff. Health facilities had been greatly impacted: 96 primary health care centres and health facilities had been forced to close in the south due to rising hostilities, five hospitals were reported non-functional due to physical or infrastructural damage, and an additional hospitals had been partially evacuated and requiring the transfer of patients, including critical dialysis and cancer patients, to other hospitals while maintaining emergency services, albeit with very limited capacity. As the number of displaced people increased and the population was left with limited access to emergency and trauma care, as well as access to essential health services, including routine vaccination and essential child and maternal health services, Lebanon was facing a situation where there was a much higher risk of disease outbreaks, such as acute watery diarrhea, hepatitis A, and a number of vaccine preventable diseases.
Lebanon’s health system had been impacted by years of economic and political instability, said Mr. Clarke. Over the past five years, Lebanon had suffered the departure of many its health workforce, limitations in essential health supplies, expensive out-of-pocket services, and lack of steady access to electricity impacting service delivery. All these challenges had deepened the risk of disease and poverty. WHO continued to support the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon, working to conduct a rapid assessment of the IDPs access to health care to better mainstream essential services. The assessment was ongoing in parallel with the work to support the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit at the Ministry to expand and improve early warning surveillance capacities. Since the escalation of violence in September, the WHO had procured over 116 metric tons of supplies including surgical trauma supplies enough to perform 4,000 surgical interventions, and cholera and mental health medicines enough to treat around 100,000 patients. Mr. Clarke stressed that the only solution was de-escalation and peace.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), quoted from the joint statement of UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro. In the statement, the two officials stressed that a negotiated solution was the only pathway to restore the security and stability that civilians on both sides so desperately wanted and deserved.
Replying to numerous questions from the media, Matthew Hollingworth, for the WFP, said that the Beirut airport was critical for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and movement of emergency medical teams in and out of the country. It was also vital that the ports and the land corridors remain open. Ian Clarke, for the WHO, spoke of the impact of the overnight bombing attacks on mental and physical health of people who had to endure it. People could no longer sleep at night because of the attacks. This would all have a longer-term impact on the affected populations.
Mr. Hollingworth also explained that the WFP aimed to be able to assist for up to one million people per day; right now, the WFP was helping some 150,000 per day. There were between two weeks and two and a half months of food stocks in Lebanon, depending on the commodity, said Mr. Hollingworth. The challenge was accessibility as more and more people found it difficult to afford the food they needed. Replying to another question, he said that a notification procedure with the IDF was already in place and a deconfliction process was being implemented to ensure that humanitarian actors’ mission and working premises were safe. Having witnessed numerous incidents in Gaza, the humanitarian actors in Lebanon wanted to make sure such deadly occurrences would be avoided in Lebanon. Lebanese people were afraid that their country could become another Gaza, which was why so many had left the southern regions and moved to Beirut and the north.
Mr. Hollingworth himself was worried that there was a risk of Lebanon entering the same spiral of doom witnessed in Gaza, where he had worked before. This should not be allowed to happen; it was up to diplomats and political leaders to prevent the worst outcome. While farming and food production in the rest of the country continued, large portions of the south were not usable, including citrus fruits, bananas, olive trees, and vegetables. In many cases, farmers would eventually return to the lands there were no longer farmable.
Also answering questions, Jeremy Laurence, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stressed the three principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality, and military necessity. Civilians and civilian objects had to be spared. The situation in Lebanon was critical, and so was the situation in Gaza. The same patterns from Gaza were being now observed in Lebanon, having horrendous impact on civilians in Lebanon.
James Elder, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), noted that the language being used over “limited” attacks on Lebanon were reminiscent of that used in Gaza. The commonalities were unfortunately way too many, and it might be getting more challenging to disentangle the two conflicts. An estimated 400,000 children were currently in need of humanitarian aid in Lebanon, said Mr. Elder.
The Lebanon Flash Appeal was currently only 12.5 percent funded, informed Alessandra Vellucci of the UN Information Service.
Hurricane Milton
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stated that hurricane Milton posed an extremely serious threat to Florida, which was still reeling from hurricane Helene less than two weeks earlier. Milton would likely make landfall in Florida on 9 October. Maximum sustained winds were near 250 km/h with higher gusts, according to the latest update from the US National Hurricane Center. Milton was a powerful category 4 hurricane. Ms. Nullis explained that Milton had intensified at an explosive rate, an increasingly common occurrence. Ocean heat was playing a role here because warm sea surface temperatures provided the energy necessary for hurricanes to intensify. The deeper the warmer water, the more energy a storm could draw. Milton was also a large hurricane, with hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 45 km from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 130 km. It was expected to grow in size. A storm surge would raise water levels by as much as 1.2 – 1.8 meters above ground level along the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in areas of onshore winds.
Ms. Nullis further informed that there were currently three hurricanes spinning in the Atlantic – Milton, Leslie, and Kirk, which was exceptional for the month of October. Kirk was currently a category 1 hurricane but would weaken and become an ex-tropical cyclone as it hit Europe on 9 October. The major impacts was expected on France. Meteo-France was forecasting that Kirk will be a dangerous storm, with wind gusts up to 100 km/h and heavy rainfall, especially in the Loire region and Paris area.
WMO was working closely with the weather forecasting community, said Ms. Nullis responding to a question. She spoke of John Morales, a veteran meteorologist in the US, who had been brought to tears while reporting about hurricane Milton. Ms. Nullis warned that this abnormal situation was becoming the “new normal”. The problem with hurricane Helene was that people could not believe it would be as intense as it was, and had thus not heeded the warning from the authorities.
Human Rights Council
Pascal Sim, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), informed that this was the final week of the 57th regular session of the Human Rights Council. This morning, the High Commissioner was providing an update on Ukraine, and this afternoon he would address the situation in Haiti. The Secretary-General’s report on Cambodia and an OHCHR report on Yemen would also be presented. Mr. Sim said that action on 37 draft resolutions would begin on 9 October and continue till 11 October. On 9-10 October, the UN General Assembly would elect 18 members of the Council to serve for three years starting in January 2025, for which they were 19 candidates. A simple majority of votes of 193 Member States, or at least 97 votes, were needed for a State to be elected.
Announcements
Speaking on behalf of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Alessandra Vellucci reminded of the upcoming World Trade Organization embargoed press conference on the "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics – October Update," on 10 October 2024 at 2 pm, under embargo until 3 pm that day. The conference can be attended in person in Room D at the WTO, or via Zoom.
Ms. Vellucci, for the UN Information Service, informed that the the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which had opened its 89th session the previous day, was reviewing today the report of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
On 9 October, the international community would mark World Post Day, a special one this year as it coincided with the 150 years of the Universal Postal Union.
Teleprompter
Good morning, Welcome to the press briefing of the Information Service here in Geneva.
Today is Tuesday 8th of October.
I want to apologise for my voice.
I guess this is the season of the flu's.
Let's start immediately by hearing the update on the Council from Pascal.
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everyone.
First, I want to apologise because last Friday I lied to you twice.
I mentioned that additional report of the fact finding mission on the Sudan will be released yesterday.
It will actually be published this coming Friday.
And also mentioned that the request for the renewal of the mandate of the special report on climate change was for an additional year, but it's actually for three years.
So apologies for that.
This morning the **** Commissioner will give an update on the human rights situation in Ukraine.
This update is based on the findings of his of his quarterly reports, the one that least Russell briefed you on last week.
And in the afternoon, Volcker Turk will update you on the situation in Haiti based on the report that Ravina presented to you last month.
The his designated experts on the human rights situation in Haiti, William O'Neill, will also participate remotely to this meeting.
He recently conducted a mission to the country, A2 week mission there.
And then you will hear a presentation of the Secretary General's report on Cambodia and another OHCHR report on EMN resolutions and amendments for this 57 session.
So as mentioned to you last Friday, we have a total of 50 of 37 draught resolutions.
The Council Secretary had also received 7 amendments yesterday for resolutions pertaining to Venezuela use and human rights and climate change.
And we expect also three additional oral amendments by Cuba on the resolution on Venezuela.
So action on these draught resolutions will begin tomorrow afternoon and will continue until Friday.
I'm very sorry I don't have yet the the running order for this, for the consideration of these resolutions, but I'll share it with you as soon as I have it.
And as you're all aware, we have important elections coming up on the other side of the Atlantic.
Tomorrow, on Wednesday at 10 AM New York time, the UN General Assembly will elect 18 members of the Human Rights Council to serve a three-year terms starting on January 1st, 2025.
There are actually 19 candidates for 18 seats, so let me just remind you who the candidates are.
Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and The Gambia for the African group, Cyprus, the Marshall Islands, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand for the Asia Pacific Group.
Czechia and N Macedonia for the Eastern European Group, Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico for the Latin American and Caribbean group, Iceland, Spain and Switzerland for the group of Western States and other states.
So a reminder that a simple majority of the 193 member states of the UN, which are, which is actually 97 votes, are necessary to be elected as a member of the Human Rights Council.
And if there are more candidates in a regional group than the number of allocated seats in this group, the candidates will get the highest number of votes and at least 97 votes will get elected.
And unlike other election, you will get the results quite early in the afternoon around 5:00 PM.
So you won't have to stay late.
And the President of the General Assembly will announce the results.
It will be a webcast election.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Pascal, is that at hand?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So I'll go to the platform.
Emma has a question for you.
Thanks, Pascal.
I just wanted to ask a bit more about the fact finding mission report.
What is this report called and what will it look at because I thought we already had that report.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I don't have the details yet on the content of the report, but it's an annex to the main report that the fact finding mission presented to the Council at the beginning of this session.
Usually when you know the the reports, the official reports that are presented to the council has a world limit.
And if an investigative body wants to provide additional information, it then issues what we call the conference room paper.
So which is an annex to the main report in which you find more details, mostly statistics figures that they could not include in their main report, but we'll have most likely a press release that will accompanied the the release of this additional report.
[Other language spoken]
Any other question for Pascal also?
That was a hint Nina on that.
So we'll get that under embargo in advance or is it will it just be published?
[Other language spoken]
I will check with my colleague Todd Pitman if we will have an embargo version shared with you.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Jamie, how common is it to release a report of the fact finding mission on the last day of the council?
[Other language spoken]
But you know, investigative bodies are facing a lot of issues, including the liquidity crisis.
So it hasn't been an easy moment for them to conduct properly their investigation on time.
But the fact finding mission is also expected to present a report to the General Assembly later in October.
So they want to make sure that at least this annex to the report is shared with the member states before the end of this session.
Yeah, No other hints.
I didn't see any issue of Pascal.
Thank you very much.
So let's turn now to the first subject, first topic of of this morning, which is indeed Lebanon.
We have a couple of colleagues online from Beirut to brief you and we have with us Matthew Hollingsworth, the WFP Country Director in Lebanon and Tariq who's connected also has brought us Ian Clark who's the Deputy Incident Manager for Lebanon, who is also in Beirut.
So we will hear from both colleagues now before we open the floor to question Matthew, would you like to start?
Thank you very much and good morning to everybody.
Clearly we are facing extraordinary times in Lebanon currently, not that were not expected unfortunately, and for some time we haven't.
We knew this escalation would be coming in place.
But what is happening and has happened over the past few weeks has been astonishing in its significance in terms of destruction and the speed in which people have been displaced.
We have upwards of 1.2 million people affected now by this crisis, hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the seven districts in the frontline areas of the South of this country bordering Israel.
And of course, the southern suburbs of Beirut emptied and many of these towns, villages and suburbs now little more than rubble.
We have in this fast moving emergency now seen, you know, horrific cases of forced evacuation notices coming out with few hours for people to prepare and depart.
So many of the families that were displaced over the past year who have prepared themselves taking their family belongings are far, far better off than the much greater majority today who have left, in some cases with only hours to spare before their areas have become under under bombardment.
And so we're seeing families in shelters.
There's now 973 formal shelters inside Beirut in the north of the country, with more than 200,000 people living there registered.
773 of those shelters are absolutely chock a block full.
These are shelters that have that were typically schools or academies or government buildings where there's insufficient, you know, toilets and bathrooms and infrastructure to cope with the sheer numbers who are now living there 24/7 as opposed to the children or students or workers who would normally only be there for a number of hours of a day.
Many of the families that I've met, and I was in the South of the country earlier last week, talk about the fact that they are moving not just because of fear of destruction of their land and their homes and their neighbourhoods, but also because they've lost people.
They've lost family and friends and communities and they are extraordinary fearful of what comes next.
Trauma in terms of mental as well as physical trauma is key to this.
People have watched over the last year as the war in Gaza has continued and and neighbourhoods have been decimated and pounded while over and over and over again.
And that is deep in their gut, in their hearts, in their minds when they move on what, what are we trying to do about all of this?
Well, we, we have been from from the very first days able to reach around 150,000 people each day with hot meals, with ready to eat rations, sort of a five day to 15 day rations, depending on people's ability to cook fresh bread, sandwiches.
And indeed, very importantly in Lebanon in this in this environment, cash transfers, so 150,000 people helped daily at the moment, but that needs to increase.
We are always playing catch up because we need to be reaching at this point almost a million people per day.
Right now we've distributed half a million hot meals being prepared through 10 kitchens as well as those other forms of aid and assistance as well.
But there's massive work to be done.
200,000 people in formal shelters.
There's many, many hundreds of thousands of more living in informal sites, unfinished buildings, falling down buildings and and indeed unfortunately sleeping out rough.
Currently the weather is good.
Last night it rained every night we hear explosions as missiles land in the southern suburbs.
Agriculture wise, food production wise, extraordinary concern for for Lebanon's ability to continue to feed itself.
1900 hectares of agricultural land have been burned in the South of the country over the past year.
Primarily in the last few weeks, 12,000 hectares of farmland in what is one of the most productive areas of the country have been abandoned.
46,000 farmers impacted heavily by this this crisis.
Olive harvests in the South will not happen.
Bananas, citrus harvest will not happen.
Vegetables rot in fields and a country that is already dependent on imports has a harder time because what they could provide for their own food security and food system needs is being decimated in the South.
We have very significant needs moving forward.
Over the next three months, as I said, we are building up to reach at least a million people who have been impacted working within a system of organisations that provide food systems and food security support.
We have a funding gap of $115 million over that time and we are we believe starting to receive positive pledges against that.
But we've we're at the moment we are working based upon the anticipatory action, the preparedness to be put in place, thankfully funded by some of our key donors ahead of the escalation where we were able to pre position some food around the country and put some cash aside for emergency, emergency transfers.
The messages right now are clearly de escalate, de escalate, de escalate.
Diplomatic political solutions must be found because the significance of the humanitarian need in a country that has already been wracked by accumulated problems over the last few years, not least the the economic crisis, but also the fragility that comes from hosting the equivalent of 25% of their population in, in refugees.
And, and really a country which is already on its knees and that cannot cope with an extended period of, of crisis such as we're facing right now.
The country is tired, people are scared, the trauma is palpable.
And obviously we're all concerned that what started a year and a day ago with those horrific events in Gaza, now we'll continue into what could be a more regional crisis.
Let's prevent, prevent, prevent and de escalate.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much, Matthew.
And now I'll go to WHOI don't know if Tariq, you want to say something at the beginning or we go straight to Yean.
[Other language spoken]
Let's go straight to to Ian.
[Other language spoken]
So you are the deputy incident manager for Lebanon for WHO and you're calling in from Beirut?
Yes, that's correct.
And apologies from The Who country representative, Doctor Abdi Nasir, who's not able to join to other commitments, but he's asked me to, to give a short statement on, on his behalf and then to stand ready to, to take questions.
[Other language spoken]
It's deeply concerned by the impact of the recent escalation of violence on health systems in Lebanon, including the rising number of attacks on healthcare workers and facilities.
Since September the 16th, attacks on healthcare have recorded, leaving behind 65 deaths and 40 injuries among health staff.
Health facilities have been greatly impacted.
More than 96 primary healthcare, healthcare centres and health facilities have been forced to close in the South Due to the rising facilities.
5 hospitals were reported non functioning either due to physical or infrastructural damage and an additional 4 hospitals have been partially evacuated and have required the transfer of patients, including critical dialysis and cancer patients to other hospitals while continuing to try to maintain emergency services, albeit with very limited capability.
With the present rising tensions in the South and across many parts of the country, including in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon has witnessed a sudden and massive displacement with an estimated 165,000 people becoming internally displaced in a single week.
And as Matthew had mentioned, in many cases these are people who have left their houses, their homes within minutes of being warned and therefore have left everything behind, their chronic, their critical medicines, their whole coping mechanisms.
As the number of displaced people increases and the population is left with limited access to emergency under trauma care, as well as to access to essential health services including routine vaccine and essential child and maternal healthcare services, we're facing a situation where there is a much higher risk of disease outbreak such as acute watery diarrhoea, hepatitis A and a number of other vaccine preventable diseases.
It's important to remember that Lebanon's health system has been impacted not just in the last few months, but by years of economic and political instability.
Over the past five years, Lebanon has suffered the departure of a large number of its health workforce, limitations in essential health supplies, expensive out of pocket services and the lack of steady access to electricity impacting service delivery.
All of these challenges have deepened the risk of disease and poverty, which go hand in hand.
We cannot ignore that Lebanon is also host to the highest number of refugees per capita, including an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees and at least 11,000 refugees of another of other nationalities.
The compound effect of economical challenges, instability, migration, displacement have resulted in significant challenges for health system and its ability to deliver.
Despite the challenges, WHO continues to support the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon.
In response to the rising ITP challenges, WHO is working with the Ministry of Public Health and partners to conduct a rapid assessment of the ID, PS, access to healthcare to better mainstream essential services.
The assessment is ongoing in parallel with work to support the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit.
As the Ministry of Public Health looks to expand and improve early warning surveillance capacities, especially at the IDP shelters.
Special attention is given to the protection of acute watery diarrheal diseases and vaccine preventable diseases, lice and scabies, among other potential outbreak threats.
Surveillance is also enhanced through the continued support to reference laboratories through the delivery of stocks and of testing agents.
WHO is also supporting the Ministry through the procurement and delivery of essential medical and surgical supplies.
Since the escalation of violence in September, WHO has procured over 116 metric tonnes of supplies including surgical trauma supplies and after perform 4000 surgical interventions and cholera and mental health medicines, enough to treat around 100,000 patients.
WHO is also supporting with the coordination of the deployment of emergency medical teams to help to train and capacitate local surgeons at the referral hospitals.
Nevertheless, the needs keep mounting as the war goes on and as Matthew mentioned, the only solution is de escalation and peace who will continue to work to respond to the emergency whilst we also advocate for peace and for health for all.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
And before I open the floor to question, I would just like to call the attention of our reporters on the joint statement that we've just distributed and which has been issued now by the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Janine Hennes Plash helped.
And the Unifilm head of mission and force commander, Lieutenant General Geraldo Lazzaro.
In this statement, the two official say one year and a quote, one year since near daily exchanges of fire commenced across the Blue Line initiated by Hezbollah propelling rockets into Shabbat farms in violation of the cessation of hostility and Security Council Resolution 1701.
One year in which too far, far too many lives have been lost, uprooted and devastated, while civilians on both sides of the Blue Line are left wanting for security and stability.
One year in which our repeated appeals for restraints, the protection of civilians and adherence to international humanitarian law, a return to the cessation of hostility and a political process anchored in their implementation of 17 O1 have gone unheeded.
There's more in the in the joint statement, which concludes by saying that further violence and destructions will neither solve the underlying issues nor make anyone safer in the long run.
[Other language spoken]
A negotiated solution is the only pathway to restore the security and stability that civilians on both sides so desperately want and deserve.
The time to act accordingly is now.
And you have the full statement in your mailing box.
And I would like to also ask, if possible, Tariq and Ishita, who's on the line too, to send the journalist the notes of our two briefings.
[Other language spoken]
Sorry.
So let me now open the floor to question in the room.
I'll start with Nina Larsen.
Nina is our correspondent of AFP.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question.
I guess questions for both of you and also other others who might be online.
Sorry, is that me?
There is there is a, a some computers are open, I could ask colleagues.
So checking their computer or telephone, please go ahead.
OK, yeah, no, my question was about the attacks or the strikes near Beirut airport and the calls to avoid hitting the airport.
I'm wondering what impact it would have for delivery of aid if if that airport is is hit.
And also sort of in terms of, of human rights, maybe I think Jeremy's online, if he could say something about about the strikes in in Beirut and, and around the airport and how that.
[Other language spoken]
OK, so just let me know who would like to take this one.
And as Nina said, we do indeed have Ian's Jeremy and James online.
So just show your hand.
I'll, I'll give you the floor.
I don't know if Matthew or Ian would like to take this up.
Actually, I can't see Matthew on the line.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I mean, we throughout the last few weeks, we have consistently asked that unlike for example in 2006 in the summer war, we we do not see these critical corridors for assistance close.
So the airport is is very important for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, but also for the movement of humanitarian and emergency medical teams in and out of the country as well.
So it's also important because it's a conduit to allow people to leave if they wish to evacuate themselves.
So it's it's important that the airport remains open.
It's absolutely critical the ports remain open.
And it's also in critical that the overland corridors into Lebanon remain open.
This is a country that relies on imports to cover most, if not all of its needs in terms of fuel, in terms of in terms of food and in terms of other materials.
If it stops, the country doesn't produce enough and does not have enough in stock to keep managing hospitals to run generators, electricity, heating as the winter comes in and the movement of goods around the country, aid and assistance and aid workers.
So they are all critical entry points for materials, aid workers, Emergency Management, medical teams and others.
So they are vital.
[Other language spoken]
Anything to add?
[Other language spoken]
Maybe just to add on the, the kind of the human impact.
I mean, you're over the last week or so longer.
The attacks, you know, pretty much begin late afternoon, early evening and run on right the way through through the night at a kind of a regular phase.
And of course this has a massive impact on the, as Matthew mentioned, on the the mental and, and psychosocial health of of people.
I was just literally this morning visiting a couple of the displacement centres just outside to the north of the here.
And, you know, people are now sleeping mainly during the day because they cannot sleep at night because of, you know, the blast, the buildings shaking.
And this will have a long and lasting impact on, on people's mental health, children, you know, all night being awake with these explosions.
So the psychosocial impact, let alone to the the physical infrastructural damages even for people who have moved and are in, we would hope a safe area they are still exposed to the psychosocial impact of of the the attacks and the bombing.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Jeremy, would you like to answer or to make a comment following Nina's question?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
You're there.
[Other language spoken]
So we would always revert back to the the paramount importance of international humanitarian law, and that is the the the three principles.
So your distinction, precaution and proportionality.
But moreover, I would say that the importance here is that the all parties must respect not only civilians, but civilian objects.
So the in, in the, as our colleagues from WFP and WHO noted the attacks on whether it be medical facilities and the like.
Just over yesterday, we we even heard of 10 firefighters killed in a strike in the in the South of Lebanon.
It's it's imperative here that in the conduct of military operations, constant care is is taken to spare, to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
I've got plenty of questions online, but that's it's a hint.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Yes, I wanted, my question is for Mr Hollingsworth, particularly Mr Hollingsworth, you mentioned a lot of numbers and I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
I wanted to just make sure I understood the that you mentioned that the goal is to have a million people helped per day.
I didn't quite understand what the current level is on that in terms of getting to reach a million, I mean, just in comparison to what the current state of play is.
And then the second question has to do, you mentioned also that 1900 hectares of agricultural land have been burned in the South.
Could you put that into perspective?
I mean, I was doing the maths as you as we spoke and that looks like about 20 square miles or 20 square kilometres.
[Other language spoken]
So is that a lot of land that's being hit and just if you could just kind of put that into perspective to the agricultural land in the entire country?
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, thanks for the question.
So it's indeed we are, we want to to build up to the point where anybody that is displaced and in need of support, food assistance can be their needs can be met.
So at the moment, worst case scenario that's going up to 1,000,000 people a day.
Right now we are able, just as the World Food Programme to serve around 150,000 people each day.
There are other partners in the food sector that bring that number up in excess of 200,000, but we've got a long way to go and the numbers rose so quickly.
So there is a lot to be done and, and, and a lot more people than we are currently able to reach and, and actually know exactly where they are.
A lot of that's to do with the fact that where when people have not gone to areas that they are yet registered to, to receive support, we are having to chase them down and find them in order to see who is most vulnerable and who needs that support.
In addition to that 150,000 I should mention there is also cash programming.
So we we have been able to provide 45,000 people with a cash transfer as well.
So it's it, it is rising, but we are playing catch up in terms of, of the agricultural land damaged through burning and that's that's through through white phosphorus, that's through other missiles and, and, and explosions that have that have lit up land.
What is very significant, significant in the South is the the long term impact.
The long term impact in particular, because a lot of the land which has been targeted is olive farms and the olive trees are decades, if not more old and they will take many, many, many years to be, to be productive once again if they, if the forests have to be replanted and grown.
So it's, it's in the, in the grand scheme of things, it's not a huge territory at this point, but it's the long term impact because replacing them will take decades.
[Other language spoken]
Thank can you hear me?
Thank you, thank you for that, those answers.
You just you also mentioned you've got extraordinary concern for Lebanon's ability to continue to feed itself.
Is Lebanon facing a, a food crisis right now or is it in the sort of what kind of time horizon if the things continue the way they are now, will Lebanon be facing a serious food crunch?
So typically in terms of food stocks in the country, depending on the commodity, there's between, you know, two weeks and and 2 1/2 months of stock.
So while there are stocks available, the bigger issue is for the families that have have been made homeless, have been dispossessed to have lost their livelihoods, their their jobs, their income and can't actually afford to procure buy the food that is available.
So we have time, there is time to prevent this.
The bigger issue is about people's availability to access because they can't afford and because they've they've lost, they've lost their own livelihoods and homes and means to, to to afford what is available.
Thank you very much.
Any other question in the room?
[Other language spoken]
So let's go to the platform.
I start with John Zaracostas, France Van Katter.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
First to the a representative from WHO in in Lebanon, Mr.
[Other language spoken]
The names of the four hospitals that have been partially evacuated and you said 5 have not functioning.
So is that a total of nine hospitals that are out of service?
If you can send us the name of each hospital and how they've been impacted?
And I've got a also a question concerning to any of the participants.
Is there deconfliction in place between the UN agencies and the IDF forces concerning humanitarian movements of aid in Lebanon at the moment?
Has that system in place and functioning on a daily basis or not?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
I think you have to unmute yourself.
We are doing Yeah, you're on.
I thought I thought you were doing it for me.
God, sorry, John, I, I don't have the, the actual names of the the the hospitals in in case, but I I'll follow up through Tariq and, and make sure that those are shared with you.
But just just to be clear on the numbers, what what we are reporting at the moment is five hospitals are reported non functional now and then four hospitals are semi functional.
So in the case of non functional, these hospital hospitals are no longer able to work.
And that could be through a number of of reasons, either because the healthcare workers are no longer there and and have have have evacuated because, or they're in areas which are impacted by the, the fighting in the South and therefore the the ministry has deemed them to be to, to evacuate.
And then the four hospitals that are semi functional.
These are the hospitals where the ministry has removed all of the chronically I'll patients on cancer dialysis and receiving medicines for, for chronic illnesses.
And those patients have been moved to other referral hospitals, but they remain partially functional for immediate trauma care.
So they're being more focused onto the trauma care.
Now again, the five that are non functional, this doesn't mean those five hospitals have been targeted or have been destroyed through bombing.
And where those have happened.
And again, I don't have the specifics, we do report that within the The Who attack on healthcare system.
So that detail is, is available online.
I thought for colleagues who, who, who would like to look at and maybe I think Matthew, because, you know, he's been here longer and was down South earlier on, is probably better place to, to talk about deconfliction.
We have discussed it with the ministry.
They are keen that we declare through the, the, the deconfliction process, all of the medical facilities.
So that's something we are looking to do.
But maybe Matthew might say a few words on that as well.
[Other language spoken]
Maybe on the confliction or any other colleague from the humanitarian agencies.
[Other language spoken]
So our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs are working with the Agency's funds and programmes to put in place and manage on a daily basis the notification procedure to ensure that our movements into frontline areas are notified to the Israeli Defence Forces and all other parties to the conflict.
So to ensure safe and consistent humanitarian access so that notification for movement process is being utilised.
The deconfliction process, which is is related but slightly different is for the deconfliction of static sites, so UN and humanitarian facilities that is also being put in place to ensure that that our, our working space, our working environments are also safe from from targeting it.
It is, it is functioning currently.
The the, the difficulty of course is with the numbers of missions increasing and the sheer number of teams going out into the field.
That's complicated.
We are and have consistently advocated for a very significant engagement and and investment on making sure deconfliction and notification works.
We, we have had too many, too many issues in the Gaza area of operations where the notification procedure and the deconfiction process has not been respected appropriately.
We don't want that to happen in Lebanon and and as such continue to advocate for the respect for this process which is covered under international humanitarian law.
[Other language spoken]
Yes, I, I, I, I think I need some clarity here.
Is the notification and deconfliction between the UN agencies and, and the IDF forces operational at the moment or it's in the process of being set up?
It is operational at the, at the moment, John.
That's how we're getting into, into the South and frontline areas and into the South of the latarney.
Clear, Matthew.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
Alessandra, my question is for WTO or or with Ian or Matthew.
Do you fear that Lebanon could become another Gaza and are you capable to deal with that scenario?
And also I have another question, how is Hezbollah helping their own people?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
I can't see in on the line.
[Other language spoken]
I can't see Ian anymore.
Matthew, you want to start?
[Other language spoken]
So the electricity's just gone off in part of the city, so that might be affecting Ian's connection as well.
But our generators got kicked in the first question, could this be another Gaza?
And we are we ready for it?
[Other language spoken]
That's why we are consistently and will continue to call for de escalation and for diplomatic channels to to be more successful in terms of of ensuring that does not happen.
I can tell you that in all of my missions to shelters in Beirut, in the north of the country, but also into areas in the South where people are still being displaced from, that is the concern.
That is the fear of every Lebanese citizen that is moving.
It's one of the reasons why so many people are moving.
They have seen what happened has happened in Gaza over this past year and they are fearful that it could happen to them.
And you know, I, I think from, from our readiness to respond, you know, we, we are, we, we have gone through a great deal of preparedness and anticipation of, of an unfortunate escalation which has now which is now being tested.
And I think we are able to, to respond and we have responded to that test.
But clearly the scale and speed in which people have been displaced because of this, this current escalation is, is enormous.
And, you know, we will need to ensure that the resources that we've called for in the flash appeal that came out last week are met if we are to do this.
Because, I mean, quite simply, it's impossible to to meet the needs of more than a million people who have been suddenly uprooted, displaced and dispossessed without additional resources coming in.
And this was not a country that was well prepared because of of all of the challenges that it's faced over the past years.
So it's going to be a struggle.
I Ian, I see you again on the screen.
Would you like to add anything?
Sorry, my connection died and I and I didn't get the question.
So I, I don't have anything to add unless there's a comeback question.
[Other language spoken]
And well, actually, so Gabriella, but no, she's got, she's put down her hand.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thanks for taking my question.
[Other language spoken]
It's just that listening to you this morning, I summed up my notes from AU, the UN briefing of about this time last year, maybe a little bit later.
November forced evacuation, few hours to leave overcrowded shelters, very few toilets, attacks on healthcare, health workers killed, fears of illnesses related to displacement, lice, scabies, respiratory disease, fears of food shortages.
This was all Gaza.
And my notes today are almost exactly the same.
And I do, I do wonder how you we've heard a little bit from from Matthew about that.
You know, the response and you need diplomacy and so on.
But I mean, how are you going to to cope if this continues?
And it does show no sign of stop of stopping at the moment.
[Other language spoken]
Also the other colleagues online, I repeat, to just raise your hand if you want.
Matthew Yan, who wants to think of this?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I mean, I, I, I spent six months as the acting World Food Programme country director in Gaza from January through the end of June this year before I moved to Lebanon.
It is in my mind from the time I wake until the time I sleep that we could go into the same sort of spiral of, of doom.
And we, we need to do everything we can to stop that from happening in, in, in this particular crisis.
We, we need the world to be more impactful and able to, to make the arguments that this cannot go on.
I mean, what has happened in Gaza over the past year, what caused or began the Gaza crisis in the 1st place, that, that they're all horrific stains on our, on our, you know, global conscience.
And we shouldn't allow that to happen.
But that's for diplomats, that's for politicians to, to deal and work on in these coming weeks and, you know, days and weeks and months From the humanitarian side, we need to focus on the people who are impacted and to try and provide them with respite, confidence, hope, and their basic needs and to support, you know, the Lebanese to help the Lebanese at this time.
And of that, I am not concerned.
I'm not concerned that the, that the agency's funds, the programmes, the international and the national humanitarian actors who are working in Lebanon today.
I'm not concerned that they will not be able to do that.
We will need resources.
We need, we'll need support.
But obviously, the, the, the, the only logical and humane way to approach this is is to prevent and to stop this from getting worse so that we can actually be spending our time, effort, money, resources on on creating a more stable region and stable relationships between those that come from this region.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Is that something you want to add?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So James for UNICEF.
Thanks so much, Alexandra.
Hi, everyone.
[Other language spoken]
I think Imogen, though, it's a very, very valid, valid question and it should be concerning everyone and every.
It's not like we need to look back five years or 10 years after historical precedent.
We're still living through that.
So if we look at the ferocity of the early attacks, if we look at the language being used, look at the language being used around Rafa, a limited offensive and Rafa is basically now empty.
Look at the mass displacement.
Look at the sheer number of people being forced to move.
Look at children in all of a sudden in shell.
Look at the lack of safety in shelters as we see in Gaza.
I think shelters or schools in Gaza have been hit 10 times in the last in the last two weeks.
So the commonalities are everywhere, as our colleagues spoke previously around proportionality and force.
Look at the sheer overwhelming sense of what's happening in hospitals right now in Lebanon.
So the, the, the, the commonalities are unfortunately absolutely there to be seen whether it is displacement on the ground, impact upon children or language being used to to some somewhat soften what the realities are on the ground.
And I think that whilst in the last next number of months it's felt somewhat futile to continue to push for the right thing, which is a ceasefire in Gaza, because of course, a ceasefire, as we all know, gets hostages home.
You know, it was that humanitarian poor slash ceasefire in late November, early December that got more than 100 hostages home.
I don't think more than 10 have been able to get back to Israel in any other form since then.
So all those things speak to a ceasefire.
But perhaps now more than ever, it's impossible to disentangle these two conflicts.
So surely those people with that level of influence, that small handful of people with that influence know that a ceasefire in Gaza will be key to de escalating what's occurring now in Lebanon and elsewhere.
I give the floor to Jeremy to also answer, but just Gabriella has put in the chat.
In fact, there was a second part to her question, which was about Hezbollah and how they're helping their their own people.
But Jeremy, maybe you want to run through first this and then I'll take if anybody can answer the second question from Gabriella.
[Other language spoken]
So just to echo more or less what James has just said, it's it's here we are again in a in a situation where you talk about Gaza, but the situation is critical today in Lebanon as it is in Gaza.
It's there.
And there is only one way forward out of this situation and that is to immediately stop the violence that will save civilian lives, that will prevent the destruction.
At the moment, sadly, our situation is that we are seeing the same, same patterns that we saw in Gaza, the same means and methods of warfare that have been used.
And as a result, we're seeing civilians pay the ultimate price, whether it be the, the hospitals being closed, a million people displaced, civilians killed, schools impacted.
The, the, the devastation is, is beyond belief for, for all people in, in Lebanon as it is in Gaza.
We can't let this happen again.
[Other language spoken]
Gabriella, did I interpret well what you wanted to ask?
And then I'll take Maya's question and then we go to Claire who's been patiently waiting.
Gabriella, is it they, they mentioned about 1,000,000 people displaced.
Well, my question on Hezbollah, but what is the estimate of the, of the number of children, if you, if you can have, if you have any estimate from that million of people that has been displaced?
[Other language spoken]
OK, so maybe if anybody wants to speak about Hezbollah and then, yeah, Matthew and then maybe James on, on the number of children.
Matthew, I mean, I on, on the Hezbollah question to to be honest with you, Gabriella, I don't know.
I'm not sure if anybody of us, any of us knows exactly how Hezbollah is, is working on, on, on supporting its, its communities or those that it represents.
What is clear, of course, is that there are this Hezbollah and Hezbollah.
There is the Hezbollah which is a military or, or a militia, and there is Hezbollah which has ministers in the government and the ministry and the government is trying to respond writ large.
All ministries are in, you know, emergency mode and are trying to do to, to continue their work, albeit in very challenging circumstances.
But in terms of how Hasbro is helping in, in social services provision, etcetera, I couldn't tell you.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The estimate is 400,000 children and unfortunately, SS colleagues are speaking so many parallels to displacements in Gaza, leaving under bombardment, leaving amidst that all the terror that that brings, leaving with very few possessions.
Very frequently.
That's what we're encountering when when families arrive in shelters and remembering, of course, as you will, Gabrielle and all will, that this already comes on top of a very fragile situation in Lebanon, a whole range of different crises, whether it was COVID, whether it was the explosive, certainly what we've seen and we've briefed here before on a **** increase in the poverty rate in Lebanon for the last last two years.
All those things have added to a layer of stress.
And of course, yes, for those 400,000 children no longer sleeping in their homes, things just got immeasurably worse.
[Other language spoken]
Last question from my appliance, David Brief.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for taking my question.
Alessandra, My question is to for James.
I'm seeing here this surveillance system for attacks on healthcare, this database that the World Health Organisation has.
Does UNICEF has anything similar in terms of the attacks you suffer when you are delivering services and goods to the populations in in distress?
Sorry, one more, one more time.
Does UNICEF have anything similar to to what?
In terms of delivering to populations to the W2?
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The the World Health Organisation has a database where they compile the number of attacks they receive when they are trying to deliver services on in conflict zones or other distressful situations.
Do you have something similar at UNICEF that we could take a look at?
Perhaps you don't have the answer right now, but it's called the Tariq.
Put it in the chat next to to the Zoom call and it's called for the World Health Organisation.
The database is called Surveillance system for attacks on Healthcare.
So they compiled the numbers so for instance, yesterday they have time and all confirmed that there were X amount of place times that convoys or people trying to deliver goods or services were attacked and then the resulting deaths or injuries.
And I think we know which one you're referring to, my James.
Do you have anything similar?
No, Liz, I might Tara, Tara can clarify or a colleague in Lebanon can clarify.
But of course, because of WHO mandate, so they would be talking about healthcare workers, healthcare facilities.
So I do understand that database for UNICEF.
Any attacks on, you know, UNICEF vehicles, UNICEF staff would always be coordinated through Ocho.
WHO would have a WHO have an ongoing tally, whether we are talking about in, you know, Afghanistan, Ukraine, you know, Gaza or or Lebanon.
[Other language spoken]
No, that would be coordinated through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
And I see and nodding.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Sorry.
We have a last after the last question by Jeremy launch Radio France International.
A quick one, I promise, for WFP.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
A quick one for WFP.
You mentioned the land that was burned and and abandoned in the South of Lebanon.
I was just wondering, can you cope, I mean, can the north of Lebanon cope with what's been left in the South?
I mean, did all basically all the food is coming at the airport in Beirut.
So how much surfers do you have left basically in the north?
[Other language spoken]
Thanks, Jeremy.
No farming, agriculture, whether it's dairy farming or or cattle rearing for meat or vegetables and olives, all forms of farming in the remainder of the country continue.
But we have lost a very significant amount in terms of the South that fed the the population of the South and was also exported to create, you know, or to provide the living for farmers in the South.
So it is, it is very much an impact on, on southerners, on one part of the community that is that makes up Lebanon when it, when you look at basic commodities into the country, the country is still very much reliant on imports for things like wheat, for bread, etcetera.
And that still needs to come from outside.
So that what we've lost in the South and what we continue to lose are are the, the citrus orchards, the banana plantations, the, the olive trees that aren't being harvested, the olive trees which have now burnt down in, in the, in the hinterland and all of the vegetable growing areas.
That's definitely a big concern when you were looking at what we hope will be a return of farmers to their land in, in, in as soon as possible, as soon as this can be de escalated.
But returning to what?
And in many cases they will be returning to to land which is not farmable for many years to come.
Thank you very much.
Oh, yeah, I'm sorry.
You want to add something Sorry my connection went I just wanted to go back very quickly to the question that Imogen from BBC.
[Other language spoken]
We lost you again go ahead try but we lost you I don't know if no I think he's you're yeah I'm sorry, but you come completely broken.
Maybe, maybe you can just as Tariq or send an answer to imagine directly because we can't hear you.
Sorry.
I'm sorry.
And before we leave this, the subject of the Middle East, just wanted to tell you two things.
First of all, I think it's really important to remind that the plan, the Lebanon Flash appeal that some of the speakers refer to today is only funded 12.1%.
This is 551 point 4 million, so 87.9% need to be funded.
It's very important to remind you.
And the other thing I wanted to say is that at 6:45 PM Geneva time, the secretary general is expected to hold the media stake out in New York, which of course, you can watch on Web TV, and he's expected to speak about the Middle East and take a few questions.
So thank you very much to all our speakers here and in Beirut.
Good luck with this so important work.
I'll turn now to Claire for her briefing.
Claire, you're going to tell us about hurricanes, the weather outside, not just hurricanes, but it's really bad.
So let's hear about the hurricane season.
[Other language spoken]
So good morning, everybody.
So turning to our weather and climate, we're also running out of adjectives, unfortunately.
We're hearing words such as unprecedented, catastrophic, historic record-breaking more and more to describe what's what we're seeing with with the weather.
We're now in October.
This is after the historic peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.
And yet today we're seeing all the reports about Hurricane Milton, which is posing an extremely serious ****** to Florida, which obviously is a state which is still reeling from the the devastation of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.
And Hurricane Helene caused a death toll of more than 100 and 160.
Milton, according to the latest forecasts from the US National Hurricane Centre, will likely make landfall in Florida Wednesday night local time.
The maximum sustained winds at the moment are.
250 kilometres an hour and this is a powerful category 4.
It Milton sort of reached Category 5 yesterday and the National Hurricane Centre is saying that, you know, fluctuations in the strength are likely, but whatever.
Regardless, Milton and I quote is forecast to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through landfall in Florida.
As we've seen with a number of tropical cyclones recently, Milton intensified at an explosive rate.
It was very, very fast.
Again, this is an increasingly common occurrence.
We saw it with Hurricane Beryl at the start of the year.
We saw it with the major hurricane which hit Acapulco last year, that hurricanes suddenly go from tropical storm status to warmth, you know, a major hurricane status in a matter of hours.
According to the US National Hurricane Centre, it was the third most rapid, intense intensification in the Atlantic basin.
[Other language spoken]
As we've said before, ocean heat is playing a role.
Warm sea surface temperatures provide the energy that hurricane needs for for growth.
The deeper the the heat, the more the the more energy a storm can can can draw in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida area we are seeing, you know, very warm ocean waters at the moment.
Another factor to bear in mind Milton is a large hurricane.
Hurricane force winds extend outwards up to 45 kilometres 30 miles and it's expected to grow in size.
So that means it's the impacts will be, will be expanded.
It might weaken in intensity, but you know, the impacts will be, will be, will be larger or wider area.
The US National Hurricane Centre and the National Weather Service, obviously, who are both members of the World Meteorological Organisation, are warning that a large area of destructive storm surge will occur along parts of the West Coast of Florida and that this is an extremely life threatening situation.
In the Tampa Bay area, which is quite a built up area.
The National Weather Service is predicting a storm surge of about 10 to 15 feet.
That, that, that, that that's huge.
If you, if you, if you look at the illustrations, you know, you compare that to a, to a house size, you know, it gets it in proportion.
The danger and the risks of this, of this hurricane.
We're expecting also very, very heavy rainfall, which will exacerbate the situation.
Important to bear in mind that this is the state of Florida, but the trajectory of Milton compared to Helene is, is different.
Milton is going to cross Florida, whereas Helene sort of meandered upwards, you know, through the Carolinas and, and got stuck there.
Milton is following a similar track to Hurricane Ian with which caused devastation 2 years ago in in in Florida and Ian also peaked as a category 5.
There are currently 3 hurricanes spinning in the Atlantic.
Milton we've just heard about Leslie somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic and Kirk, which we in Europe are going to hear about in the next couple of days.
Kirk is heading towards Europe from, you know, from, from the US.
[Other language spoken]
It will weaken and become what in the meteorological community is called an ex extratropical cyclone or an ex tropical cyclone.
The forecast tracks have varied in the past couple of days.
The latest forecast has that the major impacts will be in France and Meteo.
France is forecasting that Kirk will be a dangerous storm.
Wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour and very, very heavy rainfall.
That's it.
Sorry.
I, I will send you the the, the notes after this.
We were compiling it until, until I came came on.
Yeah, pretty warm situation.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for that.
Is there any way to interpret the decline from category 5 to category 4?
Is that indicative of anything in terms of the trend line you mentioned that the swath of of land that's going to be affected is clearly going to be broad.
But in terms of the intensity, is there any way to sort of interpret the, the, the trend line?
And if, and then my second question is, of course, Milton here isn't started sort of in the western part of the Caribbean over, you know, off of Mexico.
My, I'm being naive here, but I've always thought that the Hurricanes traditionally would come from sort of the Atlantic side more.
So is there anything unusual about that?
So in terms of the, you know, the variation in intensity, there's all things, all sorts of things that happen, you know, eyewall replacement.
So it temporarily weakens and as the National Hurricane Centre has said, you know, they do expect some, you know, some, some, some fluctuations, but regardless, it will remain a very dangerous hurricane.
And the trend that we are seeing is this trend towards, you know, very rapid, rapid intensification.
In terms of the tracks, I need to look at the historic tracks from the National Hurricane Centre.
I don't think there's anything exceptional about this track, but I, but I will, I will, I will track, I will check.
Just to, just to give you an idea, I mean, we at the World Meteorological Organisation, we work very, very closely with the, you know, weather forecasting community.
There is one veteran US weather sort of hurricane presenter.
His name is John Morales.
He's been doing this for decades and he actually broke down in tears yesterday making his regular report.
He's so emotional about what what he's saying.
And this is a guy who's who's seen dozens and dozens and dozens of of hurricanes.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
The fact that these are happening so, so late in the season, do you think that it's a sort of a, can we expect this to be like a new normal and in terms of how these hurricanes are going to happen going forward?
I think the new normal is the abnormal.
[Other language spoken]
It has been an unusual season.
So hurricane barrel, which was back in July, so quite early on in the season, that was record-breaking because it was the earliest hurricane fire category 5, Atlantic hurricane on on on record.
These are, you know, very late category, category 5 hurricanes.
His the historic peak is, is tends to be late August, September because of the, the warm ocean waters.
And as I said, you know, the, the waters around Florida are still very, very warm.
It you know, it, it, it, it, it remains to be to be seen.
We have seen Category 5 hurricanes in October.
So it's not, it's not the first one and it's, it certainly won't be the last.
Thank you very much.
No more question in the room, Gabriella.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Do you expect heavy rain or something in, in Mexico and parts of Mexico?
[Other language spoken]
Yes, I'm just looking at the the the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Centre.
So today they're they're warning of damage, damaging hurricane force winds and life threatening storm storm surge with destructive waves across portions of the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
So the I'm just trying to look at the at the map.
So yes, so Mexico will be impacted, but it seems to be, you know, it seems to be on the on the on the on the edge.
The the main impacts are going to be in in Florida.
Thank you very much, Clara.
[Other language spoken]
Thank you for taking my question, Alessandra.
[Other language spoken]
My question is related to the weather systems in the Amazon rainforest.
If there is any research that has indicated that there is some relationship between this extreme weather events occurring at this time of the year and the, the Amazon rainforest fires, I would have to check on, on, on, on, on that.
I think our Secretary General Celeste Salo, you know, tried to answer questions yesterday on, on what's happening in the Amazon.
I'm not aware immediately of a direct correlation.
But having said that, you know, most weather patterns are, you know, there are, there are lots of teleconnections as we call them, but I would have to check and, and get back to you on that.
I mean that you know, this is related to the to to to the hurricane season rather than you know what what's happening elsewhere with the climate.
Don't see any other hand for Claire on my as a follow up.
Yes, thank you Claire for the clarification.
And if we could follow up then on that.
And also the question was related, but do you see also if there is an increase in the severity of this?
I know it's the season and there are category 5 hurricanes every once and then, but is there any indication also in the research looking at a 30 year.
That the severity of the number of hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast have increased in the last 30 years.
As a follow up question, yeah, I mean as, as, as we said in the the World Meteorological Organisation, Water, State Water Resources report that we released yesterday, the because of climate change, the hydrological cycle is accelerating.
It's becoming more erratic, spinning out of out of control, so to speak.
So that means that we are seeing more intense rainfall, more extreme droughts.
That's just in, you know, that that's just in general a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.
So when it does rain, that rainfall, you know, has a tendency to be to, you know, to be heavier because of heat droughts becoming, you know, more, more intense.
All of that was in the, in the report yesterday.
Because of sea level rise, we are seeing greater, greater, greater impacts from, from storm surge, which you know is a major hazard from tropical cyclones.
And the research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is indicates that whilst we will not necessarily see an increase in the number, the overall number of tropical cyclones, we are likely to see an increase in the proportion of very intense tropical cyclone tropical cyclones.
And what we have seen certainly this year, last year is a tendency towards more rapid, rapid intensification.
Gabriel is asking if you can repeat the name of the anchor that broke on tears speaking about Milton, the Anchorman.
Yes, sorry, the the Anchorman.
I can send you his name in the chat.
His name is John Morales.
He he actually made it on to the front page of the built newspaper in Germany today with the weather map, the title in Germany's weather expert battles with tears as he as he reads out the forecast.
So his name is John John Morales.
[Other language spoken]
He's very respected.
He won a lifetime achievement award last year along with WMO Secretary General Celeste Salo of the American Meteorological Society.
So you know, this is somebody he knows.
He knows his stuff.
[Other language spoken]
My last follow up, yes, thank you very much.
The last question is related to the early warning systems.
I've seen that for Elaine that the early warning systems were working quite well and people were able to move out of the dangerous zones.
Is, is there anything that you can comment on in terms of early warning systems that are put in place by the US government and the Hurricane Centre in Miami in relation to Milton?
[Other language spoken]
The the forecasts and the early warnings as we saw with with with with Helene were were excellent.
They are excellent, very, very accurate, very precise for also for, for Milton, what we're seeing is, you know, the National Hurricane Centre, the National Weather Service will be issuing the forecasts and the warnings.
And then it's obviously for local authorities, for authorities in Florida to act on those to issue the, you know, the, the, the evacuation orders.
It's not always easy.
You know, roads are clogged.
There's probably, you know, no more availability on, on, on flights.
And what Professor Salo said yesterday, that in the case of Helene, you know, the warnings were there, but in many cases, because people had never experienced anything like it, they couldn't actually believe it.
So they didn't act on those warnings.
We're hoping that this will be different with, with, with, with Milton and the, the, this particular area where it's meant to make land landfall that was hit by Hurricane Ian two years ago.
So, you know, we're hoping that the memories of Hurricane Ian and of Hurricane Helene will be, will be fresh enough so that people do ACT on the warnings and evacuate, evacuate or stay safe.
Thank you very much, Claire, for all this information.
Just a few announcements to conclude.
First of all, let me remind you that the 9th of October, the international community celebrates the World Post Day.
This year is a particular year because we are also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union.
150 is a big age, but the as the Secretary General say in the message that we have distributed to you, the UPU being also one of the earliest example of multilateralism in action, it continues to leverage new technologies to provide essential services to humanity.
You have the full message in your mailbox.
I've been asked by WTO to remind you of a upcoming WTO embargoed press conference.
This is on the Global Trade Outlook and Statistics October Update, and it's going to take place at the WTO on the 10th of October.
So tomorrow, sorry, in two days at 2:00 PM Geneva time.
So the event will be at WTO in Room D and will also available via Zoom.
Please note that the embargo will be lifted at 3:00 PM Geneva time on the same day.
An embargoed copy of the report and news item will be available today from 4:00 PM on the WTO Online Media newsroom.
And if you wish to participate either virtually or in person, please get in contact with the WTO media team.
Fernando gave us this information so you can address him if you have further questions.
And very, very last point, the Committee on Denomination and Discrimination Against Women that as you know has started this session, that's the 89th session, is reviewing today the report of they Allow People's Democratic Republic.
The other countries to follow will be Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Chile, Canada, Japan, Cuba and Benin, and they work will conclude on the 25th of October.
That's what I had for you.
Is there any other question?
I don't see any.
So thank you very much to everyone for following this press briefing.
Thanks for our briefers, and I'll see you on Friday.
[Other language spoken]