\n
<\/p>\n
In a joint call to de-escalate, UN agencies have warned that further conflict risks triggering new displacement in a region already strained by decades of war and instability.<\/p>\n
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) noted military strikes have led people in both Iran and Israel to flee their homes in search of safety from tit-for-tat missile strikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMovements have been reported from Tehran and other parts of Iran, with some choosing to cross into neighbouring countries,\u201d the agency stated. Meanwhile, \u201cshelling has caused people in Israel to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and in some cases abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement \u2013 we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root<\/strong>,\u201d said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. \u201cThe time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there\u2019s no quick way back<\/strong> \u2013 and all too often, the consequences last for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n UNHCR urged countries in the region to respect the right to seek asylum and ensure humanitarian access to those affected, while calling on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n The conflict escalated sharply following Israeli airstrikes on multiple Iranian nuclear-related sites in the past week, including a centrifuge manufacturing workshop in Esfahan, according to the UN\u2019s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the third such facility that has been targeted over the past week,\u201d Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed, noting that the facility had been under IAEA surveillance as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) \u2013 the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015, which the United States pulled out of in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences<\/strong>,\u201d he said. However, Mr. Grossi warned that continued strikes on nuclear infrastructure are severely undermining nuclear safety and security.<\/p>\n \u201cThough they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The IAEA has been tracking damage to sites in Esfahan, Arak, Karaj, Natanz and Tehran since the Israeli military campaign against Iran began on 13 June. T<\/p>\n he agency has been providing regular updates to the UN Security Council, which has yet to reach consensus on a response. On Friday, ambassadors debating the escalation heard during an emergency meeting in New York heard UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres warn that if fighting escalated it could “ignite a fire no one can control.”<\/strong><\/p>\n The mounting regional crisis is unfolding against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, painted a grim picture of life in the enclave during an address to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Gaza, two million people are being starved<\/strong>,\u201d he said bluntly. \u201cThe newly created, so-called \u2018aid mechanism\u2019 is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people<\/strong>. It is a death-trap, costing more lives than it saves.\u201d<\/p>\n Lazzarini described a territory devastated by nearly two years of conflict, with more than 55,000 reported dead by local authorities in the Strip \u2013 the majority of them women and children.<\/p>\n Survivors, he said, \u201care shadows of their former selves; their lives forever changed by unspeakable trauma and profound loss<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n In the occupied West Bank, displacement and destruction of public infrastructure are altering the demography of Palestinian camps, he added, in what he described as an effort to erase the prospect of a Palestinian State under the UN-backed two-State solution and strip Palestinians of refugee status.<\/p>\nNuclear risks rise as Iran facilities hit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Gaza in ruins, Palestinians face starvation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
UNRWA in the crosshairs<\/strong><\/h2>\n