Conditional ceasefire:  Jan Egeland urges Israel, Hezbollah to commit to stopping attacks

Following the conditional ceasefire announcement in Iran Tuesday night, Jan Egeland, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Secretary General, has urged all parties must to commit to ending hostilities across the region beyond this two-week agreement.

Egeland made the appeal in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement reads:

“The announced two-week ceasefire is a welcome reprieve for civilians across Iran, the Gulf and the wider region who have endured more than five weeks of violence. This must not be a short-lived window of hope before renewed violence. All parties must commit to ending hostilities across the region beyond this two-week agreement. 

“This ceasefire must also include Lebanon, as announced by the Government of Pakistan. In the last hour, Israel launched the largest and most violent wave of airstrikes across Beirut, the South and the Bekaa. My colleagues are reporting horrifying scenes of so much destruction and many casualties. Israel and Hezbollah must commit to stopping their attacks, and Israel must withdraw from the Lebanese villages and territory it currently occupies. Our teams spoke to families today who told us when they heard the news about the ceasefire, they were ready to leave the collective shelters and return home, only to have their hopes shattered by renewed attacks in the south. A ceasefire excluding Lebanon risks fuelling further escalation and undermining any hope for stability.

“In Iran we are now focusing our efforts on urgently scaling up life-saving support to families whose lives have been devastated by this war. Alongside our local partners we have the capacity to help the millions of war displaced Iranians and Afghan refugees. We can operate freely, do independent needs assessments and provide cash directly to displaced families in addition to the supply of water and sanitation, emergency shelter, education and trauma care for women and children.

“But in a world that has found many billions of dollars to wage wars we do not even have the minimum 6 million we have asked for in emergency relief for 50,000 people in Iran who have lost everything. We have only received 2 million US dollars so far in emergency relief and will run out of money in May. We have briefed multiple donor countries, but only Norway and Sweden have so far responded with the needed funding. The broader humanitarian appeal for Iran is similarly underfunded with just one in every 20 dollars needed delivered.

“This lack of international support is also echoed in Lebanon where less than a third of the required funding has been delivered. Our teams across Lebanon have raced against time to provide urgent relief and upgrades for displaced people in collective shelters. We are providing emergency supplies, hygiene materials, clean water as well as education. Learning from 2024, we know that either to sustain the response for displaced people or to accompany returns after five intense weeks of violence, the need for support remains vast. 

“Civilians cannot afford yet another ceasefire collapsing into a new round of bloodshed. This must be the foundation for a permanent ceasefire brings peace and stability for civilians across Iran, Lebanon and the wider region.”