THE United Nations refugee agency launched an urgent appeal for funds from Britain today amid the serious escalation of attacks by Israel on Lebanon.

The UNHCR has warned that the humanitarian consequences are “devastating” as nearly 500 people have been killed in the latest attacks.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, with numbers growing.

Funds are urgently needed to help provide essential aid, such as shelter, blankets, clean water, cash assistance and medical care for people forced to flee their homes, the agency said.

UNHCR UK chief executive Emma Cherniavsky said: “This is a region that has already been devastated by war, and the toll on civilians is unacceptable.

“An end to the hostilities is desperately needed.

“In the meantime, we urgently need donations to help UNHCR scale up emergency aid, and avert further suffering and devastation.”

Despite Britain being the sixth-largest national economy in the world, constituting 2.3 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product, it is listed at 11 in rankings for top UNHCR contributors.

In 2024, it provided $59 million (£44m), having dropped its overseas development assistance to 0.5 per cent of its gross national income in 2020.

Anti-war groups called on the government to end arms sales to Israel alongside increasing support for the agency.

Campaign Against Arms Trade’s Emily Apple said: “While this government must increase its funding to support refugees, it must also take immediate action to stop supplying the weapons that Israel is using to devastate people’s lives.

“Although it has imposed a partial ban on arms exports to Israel, it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

“In particular, it must urgently end the supply of all F-35 combat aircraft components that Israel is using in its bombardments.

“Until it halts these sales, this government is still complicit in appalling  war crimes and is green-lighting the escalation of this horrendous conflict.”

A Stop the War Coalition spokeswoman said: “It’s difficult to imagine the government increasing funding to the UNHCR specifically for refugees facing Israel’s attacks in Lebanon when [Prime Minister Sir] Keir Starmer has failed to condemn Israel’s state terrorist attacks on the country.

“[Sir Keir] is actively escalating war in the Middle East through his refusal to enforce a full arms embargo and to demand Israel complies with international law, whatever he may claim to be doing otherwise to de-escalate the situation.”