Jan Egeland, UN Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, is traveling to Lebanon Friday to deal with what he described as the looming humanitarian catastrophe.

Egeland told the UN Security Council at the daylong open meeting that he has requested from Israel, a guarantee of safe passage routes into and out of Lebanon.

"The war, the terror, the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure has to stop in Lebanon, in northern Israel as it has to stop in Gaza," he said.

Too many children, women, elderly and other civilians have already lost their lives or are struggling from their wounds, Egeland stressed.

He said he plans to launch a UN flash appeal while in Lebanon that will address the most pressing humanitarian concerns for a period of three months.

Source: Xinhua