By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA, June 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday said it is doubling the amount of money it says it needs to help Lebanon meet surging humanitarian needs, as the war enters its fourth month.
Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional war in early March when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran, which was under U.S.-Israeli attack, prompting a major Israeli air and ground campaign.
"In the past three months, communities across Lebanon have faced an appalling situation due to the escalation of hostilities," U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza said.
"The toll on civilians is alarming and worsening by the day."
The U.N. said it will launch a fresh aid appeal with the Lebanese government to seek an additional $331.5 million to reach 1.4 million people, bringing the total appeal to $639.9 million. It had received $185.9 million as of May 31.
Since March 2, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanese authorities, whose data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The crisis is rapidly eroding food security, with nearly one in four people in Lebanon - around 1.24 million people - expected to face crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity until August, according to the U.N.
Riza described meeting a family in the southern city of Tyre, which has been heavily targeted by Israeli strikes, who had been displaced five times. He said hospitals and clinics had been damaged by airstrikes and agricultural land scorched.
A new U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon announced on Wednesday, contingent on Hezbollah leaving southern areas, was rejected by the militant group and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Editing by Ros Russell)
