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	Military escalation in the Middle East by OHCHR, OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, agencies   3 Mar. 2026   UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani remarks on the military escalation in the Middle East:   “The fear, the panic, the anxiety experienced by millions of people in the Middle East and beyond is palpable – and was entirely avoidable. The situation is worsening and widening by the hour, playing out our worst fears,” the UN Human rights spokesperson said.   “UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk says he is deeply shocked by the impacts of the widespread hostilities on civilians and civilian infrastructure since the conflict with Israel and the United States of America’s attacks on Iran, Iran’s response against States across the region, as well as Hezbollah’s subsequent entry into the conflict,” Shamdasani stated.   “The laws of war are crystal clear. Civilians, and civilian objects are protected. All States, and armed groups, must abide by these laws,” she added.   The High Commissioner calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, prevent further escalation, and take all feasible measures to protect civilians, as well as critical infrastructure. Returning to the negotiating table is the one and only way to bring an end to the killing, destruction and despair.   “So far, besides Iran and Israel, the hostilities have impacted 12 other States, destroying or damaging private homes, offices and businesses, airports, energy infrastructure, amongst other civilian infrastructure,” Shamdasani said.   “In the single deadliest – and devastating – incident, 160 girls were reportedly killed and injured when their primary school in Minab in the south of the country was struck during the school day,” she stated.   “Children, little girls in the middle of the school day, at the beginning of the school day, being killed in this manner, backpacks with, blood stains on them. This is absolutely horrific. And I think if there's any image that captures the essence of the destruction, despair and senselessness and cruelty of this conflict, those are the images”.   The High Commissioner calls for a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the attack. The onus is on the US forces that carried out the attack to investigate it. The UN Human Rights Office calls on them to make public the findings and ensure accountability and redress for victims.   “The Iranian military has responded to the U.S. and Israeli attacks, deploying hundreds of missiles and drones, among other weapons systems, against States across the region, killing civilians and causing damage to civilian infrastructure. In the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, nine people were killed when a missile struck a residential area,” Shamdasani said.   “We are also gravely concerned by the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired barrages of projectiles into Israel, and the heavy counterstrikes of Israel, including in Beirut. We urge both parties to immediately end this major escalation in violence and to return to the agreed ceasefire,” Shamdasani said.   Reports say there have been civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, and significant re-displacement as a result of the Israeli strikes in the south of the country, and southern suburbs of Beirut. Information received indicates that tens of thousands of residents had fled the affected areas overnight, on top of the 64,000 already displaced.   “Across Iran, we have grave concerns for the welfare of the population, given the Government’s record of cracking down with lethal force on broad scale against those who oppose their rule and new threats of senior officials against any expression of dissent at this time,” she said.   The spokesperson also voiced concern over that many Iranians are again unable to access the Internet, and hence have limited access to essential information, including that necessary to seek safety from the ongoing hostilities. She called for the immediate restoration of telecommunications services.   “Human rights must not be instrumentalized or used as a bargaining chip by any State – we know from painful history what the results of the use of brute, external force can mean for human rights. Human rights need to be central to Iran’s future,” the spokesperson said.   * Middle East - Civilians at risk across region. (OCHA)   The Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the United Nations and its partners continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation across the Middle East, where hostilities are increasingly affecting civilians, humanitarian operations and essential supply routes.   In Iran, authorities report more than 1,000 deaths and damage to over 100 civilian sites, including residential areas, medical and pharmaceutical facilities, Iranian Red Crescent Society bases and schools. The UN Refugee Agency reports that around 100,000 people have been displaced since 28 February, with population movements observed from major cities toward rural areas.   Turning to Lebanon, bombardments in the south of the country and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, continue to impact civilians. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported more than 70 fatalities and over 435 injuries since the start of the escalation.   Israeli authorities have issued orders instructing residents south of the Litani River, including those in the cities of Tyr and Bint Jbeil, to move north of the river. A forced displacement order was also issued for Dahieh, an entire neighbourhood in the south of Beirut. According to the Government, more than 95,000 people are sheltering in over 440 collective shelters.   * (More than a million people in Lebanon have been registered as displaced after fighting restarted between Israel and Hezbollah following the United States and Israel’s war on Iran).   OCHA reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times in accordance with international humanitarian law. De-escalation, safe humanitarian access and functioning supply routes remain essential to ensure assistance can reach people affected across the region.   The brutality of war measured in children’s lives as hostilities escalate in Iran - UNICEF   “UNICEF is deeply concerned about the deadly impact the ongoing military escalation in Iran is having on children. Over 180 children have reportedly been killed and many more injured already.   “Among the casualties are 168 girls killed when a strike hit the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, in southern Iran, on 28 February, while classes were in session. Reports indicate that the majority of those killed were schoolchildren aged between 7 and 12. In addition, 12 children were killed in other schools across five different locations in Iran.   “These child casualties are a stark reminder of the brutality of war and violence on children, which impacts families and communities for generations.   “Children and schools are protected under International Humanitarian Law and must be places of safety.   “As military strikes continue across the region, children are increasingly exposed to violence and the impact on essential civilian infrastructure poses a direct threat to their wellbeing. At least 20 schools and 10 hospitals have reportedly been damaged in Iran, disrupting children’s access to education and critical health services.   “UNICEF urgently calls on all parties to uphold their obligations under international law, and to ensure the protection of civilians. Under international humanitarian law, the lives and wellbeing of children must always be protected.   “UNICEF continues to closely monitor the situation and stands ready to support the humanitarian efforts to assist children and families affected by the escalating violence.”   6 Mar. 2026   Humanitarian crises escalate in Middle East - Press briefing by Tom Fletcher, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.   "This a very tough moment for our humanitarian work.. We’re seeing staggering amounts of money, reportedly $ 1 billion a day, funding this war, spent on destruction, while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need. And we’re seeing an increasingly deadly alliance of technology and killing with impunity.   We’re seeing a sustained attack against the systems and laws meant to restrain us from our worst instincts and from reckless warfare.   So too many warning lights are flashing right now. And as the Secretary-General has said, what we need is de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, genuine dialogue and negotiations, in line with the Charter of the United Nations.   Actions, of course, have consequences, and once again, civilians are facing those consequences across the Middle East.   Homes, hospitals and schools are being hit. Across the region, UNHCR are reporting hundreds of thousands of people displaced. UNICEF are reporting that over 190 children have been killed since the escalation, including over 180 in Iran, seven in Lebanon, three in Israel, and one in Kuwait. So once again, civilians must be protected – full stop.   We are mobilizing in response, across the humanitarian community. I’m in close contact with our teams throughout the region, and we’re distributing life-saving help, including food, medicine and shelter.   Yesterday, I spoke to the Permanent Representative of Iran. I reaffirmed the UN’s readiness to help civilians needing humanitarian support. Authorities there are reporting more than 1,000 deaths and damage to over 100 civilian sites. UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration are reporting that over 100,000 people have been internally displaced in the last week.   In Lebanon, hundreds of people have been killed, hundreds more injured. Even before the escalation, WFP were reporting that 874,000 people in Lebanon are lacking food.   In Gaza, Israel initially shut all crossings and brought many humanitarian movements to a halt a week ago, so aid stocks could not be replenished at the rate necessary. Shortages worsened, prices surged, and while Karem Abu Salem/Karem Shalom has reopened, other crossings, including Rafah, remain closed for now. Medical evacuations suspended. We’ve been able to bring in less than half the fuel we need as a bare minimum to keep services running. Key NGO partners remain restricted, facing unacceptable restrictions on their work, and strikes on residential areas have continued despite the ceasefire.   In Afghanistan, dozens have been killed in fighting on the Pakistan border, many of them women and children, and civilian infrastructure has been damaged. Displacement, already huge, is rising fast. More than 16,000 families have fled their homes, adding to millions already displaced across Afghanistan, and border closures, flight suspensions and security restrictions are making it harder for us to reach people in need.   Beyond the impact on those country crises, I also fear three knock-on effects of this war.   Firstly, war doesn’t stay neatly within borders or on desktop military plans. It tears through markets, supply chains, food prices. And when that happens, it’s the most vulnerable people who are hit first and hardest.   And so, when maritime corridors, such as the Straits of Hormuz, are disrupted, food prices will rise. health systems will be squeezed, and basic commodities, including our humanitarian supplies, will become much harder to access.   A second-knock on effect: there will be even less attention for crises from Sudan to South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ukraine and beyond. We sometimes hear that these conflicts have been ended. Let me repeat that they have not.   A third knock-on impact: this conflict is part of a pattern of attrition against international law and humanitarian principles. As conflicts spread, the international system pulls further apart with more resources flowing towards weapons of war, rather than the political will, the diplomatic energy needed for saving lives.   Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war, but this is, of course, when it is most needed. So, I want to end by recognizing the humanitarians who continue to head towards danger to support civilians caught up in this escalation. They must be protected.   The humanitarian movement will continue to serve those who need us. Every day that this continues, we will see many, many more people displaced, often into areas of existing high need.   As I said, attention now and money and time and energy is shifting into different ways to continue this war, rather than into existing humanitarian needs, and now the new humanitarian needs created by the war.   I also worry about other crises. I mentioned Sudan, Gaza and OPT, South Sudan, Ukraine, DRC, which all need sustained engagement, and which are slipping too far down the list. So all the warning lights are really flashing right now.   Q: I wonder what the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, could do with a billion a day.   UN Emergency Relief Coordinator: I can tell you, we would save millions of lives with a billion dollars. We’re trying this year to save 87 million lives with $23 billion, so you can do the maths on how many we could save every day with that billion dollars. And it breaks our hearts that this is being spent on this conflict, rather than dealing with the existing huge humanitarian needs.   We’ve lost our bearings somehow in the world, and that this ingenuity and creativity that humans have is being spent on developing more and more sophisticated ways of killing each other. Rather than solving a very solvable problem, which is saving 87 million lives facing life threatening circumstances out of over 300 million really in desperate need, as the starting point.   http://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/3031/un-human-rights-spokesperson-ravina-shamdasani-remarks-on-the-military-escalation-in-the-middle-east http://www.unognewsroom.org/all-stories http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-projects-food-insecurity-could-reach-record-levels-result-middle-east-escalation http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-statement-impact-military-escalation-children-middle-east http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/brutality-war-measured-childrens-lives-hostilities-escalate-iran http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/iran-children-must-never-be-collateral-damage-un-committee-says http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-are-bearing-brunt-escalating-violence-lebanon http://www.savethechildren.net/news/every-war-war-against-children-it-must-never-be-accepted-inevitability-statement-save-children http://www.nrc.no/news/2026/middle-east-war-the-vast-human-cost-is-overlooked http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2026/03/lebanon-israeli-blanket-displacement-orders-bring-more-misery http://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-tells-security-council-exhausted-lebanon-not-asking-help-oxygen http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/lebanon-intensification-hostilities-worsens-impact-civilians-and-critical-infrastructure http://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/flash-appeal-lebanon-march-may-2026-march-2026   http://www.rescue.org/press-release/closure-strait-hormuz-and-regional-airspace-closures http://www.rescue.org/press-release/one-million-people-displaced-across-lebanon-just-two-weeks-children-need-urgent http://www.savethechildren.net/news/middle-east-regional-conflict-blocking-lifesaving-aid-nearly-half-million-children http://www.savethechildren.net/news/conflict-drives-eid-food-price-surge-across-middle-east-and-wider-region-leaving-families http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/02/turk-deplores-strikes-against-iran-and-retaliation http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/icrc-president-urges-respect-rules-war-major-military-escalation-middle-east http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-almost-700-000-displaced-week-across-lebanon-crisis-deepens http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/unhcr-3-2-million-iranians-temporarily-displaced-iran-conflict-intensifies http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-responds-rising-displacement-middle-east-emergency http://www.acaps.org/en/middle-east-conflict   http://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-warns-moment-grave-peril-humanitarian-crises-escalate-middle-east http://www.unocha.org/news/un-relief-chief-middle-east-violences-humanitarian-fallout-increasingly-daunting http://reliefweb.int/report/iran-islamic-republic/escalation-middle-east-and-beyond-humanitarian-response http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-warns-rising-food-and-fuel-prices-risk-pushing-global-hunger-higher-humanitarian-needs http://www.unocha.org/news/closure-hormuz-could-have-immense-impact-humanitarian-operations-un-relief-chief-warns http://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/statement-regional-directors-ingos-middle-east-region http://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/u-s-israel-iran-war-on-course-for-cataclysmic-civilian-harm-displacement-and-humanitarian-need/ http://www.inew.org/iran-and-the-middle-east-inew-warns-of-escalating-harm-as-civilian-casualties-reported-across-region/ http://www.nrc.no/news/2026/middle-east-escalation http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167063
	‘Domicide’ on the increase as conflicts proliferate by Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Olivier De Schutter Special Rapporteur on Housing, Special Rapporteur on Poverty   Mar. 2026   ‘Domicide’ on the increase as conflicts proliferate, warns top rights expert. (UN News)   The mass destruction of homes due to conflict around the world has continued to cause massive destitution and AI has made it far worse, according to Special Rapporteur on housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal.   On the unfolding war in the Middle East, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent expert highlighted reports indicating that AI had been used to hit more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 to 48 hours in Iran.   “I hope that the Iran crisis stops gathering momentum, that steps are taken to bring it to a full stop as soon as possible, and that parties return to the negotiating table to sort out whatever differences that they have instead of trying to bomb each other and destroy everything that they've taken decades to build.”   In his last report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mr. Rajagopal described the widespread or systematic destruction of housing in Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere as “domicide”.   Following his country visit to Guatemala in July 2025, the Special Rapporteur also highlighted the “widespread practice of forced evictions and the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities” there.   He maintained that many evictions were driven by judicial orders following criminal complaints filed by private developers, with little protection from the authorities for those losing their homes or land.   http://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/3032/hrc-press-conference-special-rapporteur-on-housing-05-march-2026 http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahcr6143add3-domicide-mass-destruction-housing-and-civilian http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/special-rapporteur-housing-launches-guiding-principles-resettlement http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/annual-thematic-reports http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing   Apr. 2026   UN-backed roadmap provides blueprint for eradicating poverty beyond growth. (OHCHR)   A UN expert today called for a major overhaul of global development, unveiling a new roadmap designed to end poverty without pushing the planet beyond its limits.   “For decades, the dominant narrative has been that economic growth is the only route out of poverty,” said Olivier De Schutter, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. “Yet, this is neither realistic nor sustainable, and is often counterproductive.”   In his Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth, the expert called for a decisive change in how governments and international institutions tackle the issue.   “The global economy we have built is funnelling vast wealth into the hands of a tiny elite, weakening democratic institutions, and trapping millions in poorly paid work,” De Schutter said. “It relies on the plundering of natural resources and cheap labour in the Global South, and has caused irreparable damage to the planet.”   “In the name of competitiveness and growth, governments have also weakened labour protections, deregulated markets, and cut public services — deepening insecurity and inequality,” he said.   The Roadmap draws on contributions from more than 400 experts across the UN system, academia, governments, civil society and trade unions. It offers concrete policy options for transitioning to a human rights economy that reduces poverty and inequality without relying on socially and ecologically destructive economic growth.   “There is a growing consensus on the need for credible alternatives to our growth-at-all-costs economic model,” the Special Rapporteur said.   “When I began my mandate six years ago, the ‘beyond growth’ agenda was at the margins. Today, as our economic structures hurtle us towards climate catastrophe and extreme levels of inequality, it is increasingly shaping the debate.”   He outlined policies in the Roadmap which aim at strengthening universal public services and care systems, guaranteeing access to decent work through a public employment guarantee, introducing income security mechanisms such as a universal basic income, and reducing working time while ensuring fair and living wages.   The expert also stressed the requirements needed to finance these transformations, from wealth and inheritance taxes, to cancelling the unsustainable sovereign debt burdens that prevent many countries from investing in social protection.   While low- and middle-income may still require growth to invest in infrastructure, public services and social protection, De Schutter warned that the challenge is to support growth that is less dependent on exploitative global supply chains, enabling development without perpetuating inequality or environmental harm.   The Special Rapporteur underscored the need to shape the next generation of anti-poverty efforts – including the global development goals that will replace the Sustainable Development Goals when they expire in 2030, as well as the creation of a new International Panel on Inequality – to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.   “Both will fall short if they do not look beyond growth,” De Schutter said. “Ending poverty is one of humanity’s most urgent challenges, but it will remain out of reach unless we are willing to rethink the economic assumptions that have misguided policymaking for generations.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/04/un-backed-roadmap-provides-blueprint-eradicating-poverty-beyond-growth-un http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-poverty/roadmap-eradicating-poverty-beyond-growth http://www.neep-poverty.org/news/press-release-un-backed-roadmap-provides-blueprint-for-eradicating-poverty-beyond-growth-un-expert http://www.neep-poverty.org/ Visit the related web page
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