Meanwhile, in eastern Libya, a ship carrying hundreds of passengers travelled from Misrata to Benghazi on Saturday. Local authorities in Benghazi have registered some 35,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), but UNHCR estimates that the number is closer to 100,000 as many residents of nearby Ajdabiyya are also thought to have left for Benghazi.

UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva that the recent surge in numbers of refugees and others displaced by the fighting is putting additional pressure on humanitarian agencies, which are critically short of funds.

"Given the increasingly protracted nature of the unrest in Libya, unless funding is provided urgently, a number of protection and assistance programmes will have to be scaled back along the border areas and inside Libya," he warned.

A ship chartered by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) carrying supplies for 15,000 to 25,000 people is expected to dock in the city of Misrata tomorrow. The supplies include first aid kits, drinking water, water purification tablets, hygiene material and recreational material for children.

Marixie Mercado, the agency's spokesperson in Geneva, told reporters that a clearer picture of the toll of the fighting on children is emerging. "It is far worse than UNICEF had feared and certain to get worse unless there was a ceasefire," she said.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, said today that the situation of girls and boys in Misrata is of particular concern, at a time when heavy shelling, bombardment, and land mines claim children as victims.

"Despite [the] outcry from the international community, children continue to be the victims of the conflict in Libya," she said in a statement in which she urged all sides to immediately stop using children as combatants and to put an end to the killing and maiming of girls and boys.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Misrata hospital is overwhelmed and faces difficulties in conducting surgeries, as its capacities are overstretched and 120 patients needed evacuation.

The priorities continued to be access for medical evacuation and ensuring the availability of medicines for non-communicable diseases, given the urgent need for medical supplies to treat vascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic.