Lebanon's ambassador to Japan has called on the country and the rest of the world for support, saying his nation is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Nidal Yehya was speaking at the Japan National Press Club on Friday, around one month after Israel's military started a ground operation against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon in late September.

The ambassador said, "the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon has reached unprecedented proportions since the start of hostilities."

The death toll in the country has reportedly climbed to about 2,800 since fighting began in October last year between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia Muslim group affiliated with the Islamic group Hamas.
The ambassador said the number of displaced people within the country has reached 1.4 million, or 25 percent of the country's population.

He also said his country has been facing a serious economic crisis since falling into default in March 2020 after years of fiscal and trade deficits.

Yehya added that Israeli forces are destroying most of the country's infrastructure and what he calls a "massacre" of its people.

He called for international assistance, saying that after a ceasefire, Lebanon will need "the biggest power to rebuild the country."

The ambassador also cited a 2006 UN Security Council resolution calling for "an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from southern Lebanon."

He said Israel's full compliance with the resolution is crucial to regional stability as "it remains a diplomatic tool for halting escalation of violence."

Yehya called on Japan, a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council, to urge Israel to fully comply with the measure.