Lebanon: Under Fire, Aid Agencies Perform Their Life-Saving Work

BEIRUT, Lebanon, August 7, 2006 (ENS) - Under high-intensity bombardment in southern Lebanon today, United Nations and other relief agencies are struggling to provide the bare necessities of life for hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes.

Since the conflict erupted on July 12, around 960 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed, almost 3,400 have been injured, and more than 915,000 people – about one quarter of Lebanon's population – have been displaced, according to the World Health Organization.

In Israel, 95 people have been killed, 38 of them civilians, as a result of the conflict and Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanon to Israel.

UN personnel have died in the conflict. Since the outbreak of hostilities, four UN military observers, one staff member with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and his wife were killed. Eleven others have been wounded.

The UN patrol base in El-Khiam, South Lebanon was struck by Israeli bombardment on July 25, 2006, killing four unarmed UN military observers. UNIFIL reports that, in total, 21 strikes were made within 300 meters of the patrol base. (Photo courtesy UN)

The supply route from Sidon to Tyre also was bombed today and Tyre has now been cut off. Responsible for transporting all UN relief supplies into and within Lebanon, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) will be carrying out a reconnaissance tomorrow to look at the feasibility of repairing the damage or finding a new detour.

"In coordination with the Lebanese authorities, UNIFIL is trying to ensure with the IDF [Israeli Defense Force] the reopening of the road by putting up another provisional bridge in that area, especially for humanitarian purposes," the mission said in a statement issued in Naqoura. The UN peacekeepers are working under fire from both sides.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon David Shearer today called on the Israeli Defense Force to end its attacks on civilian infrastructure and to cease all actions hindering the supply of humanitarian relief supplies to the displaced people across the country.

Shearer, was critical of an IDF attack Sunday that killed at least two Lebanese and was very close to a UN aid convoy near the city of Tyre, warning that such attacks, which have already curtailed vital emergency supply routes between the north and south of the country, could halt aid operations altogether.

There was no damage or injuries to the UN convoy, but as the empty trucks were returning from Tyre to Beirut, another vehicle, some 30 meters ahead of the convoy, was hit by a missile. The driver, who was alone in the vehicle, was killed.

"Attacks close to our convoys, such as yesterday's, could very well prevent us from continuing our humanitarian relief efforts, as many truck drivers are no longer willing to risk their lives," Shearer said. "The targeting of civilians and essential social infrastructure is a violation of international law."

Four relief truck drivers failed to show up for work today.

UNIFIL peacekeepers assist Lebanese refugees to evacuate. (Photo courtesy UN)

The destruction last week of four bridges on the road from the Syrian border at Arida to Beirut forced the World Food Programme to cancel convoys. The border crossing at Arida was the only remaining overland access point to Lebanon from Syria.

Following a rapid survey of the damage, WFP dispatched convoys but they must take a lengthy detour along the old coastal route, tripling the travel time on the heavily congested road between the Syrian border and Beirut.

Today, WFP dispatched a convoy of 11 trucks from Arida to Beirut with food and communications supplies.

In addition, WFP today sent 19 trucks to Sidon with wheat flour, vegetable oil, canned meat and other food and relief supplies.

Four of those 19 trucks are from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) loaded with supplies for the Palestine refugees already in Lebanon.

Palestinian and Lebanese refugees share little more than bare walls and a floor. (Photo courtesy UNRWA)

"People with nothing are helping people with nothing," Farmawi said, "that is the irony of this war."

In the Al-Bas camp in Tyre, about 500 families have arrived as "guests" to the camp that already hosts over 5,000 refugees. "We were already sharing half a potato amongst ourselves, and then when the new refugees came in, we had to cut it again, and now we barely have any potatoes left," said Farmawi.

On Sunday, 18 trucks managed to deliver relief supplies to Tyre and 10 relief trucks made it to Zahle, the first UN convoys into eastern Lebanon where thousands of people are in need of assistance.

The UN warned today that there are only seven to eight days' worth of fuel left in Lebanon.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today called on all sides in the conflict to ensure safe passage of fuel, saying that if fuel is not delivered this week, 60 percent of all hospitals in Lebanon, along with other health facilities, will have to shut down.

"Based on available information, if there is no fuel delivered in the next few days, more than half of the hospitals will not be able to operate by the end of this week and the situation will be much worse next week," warned Dr. Ala Alwan, representative of the WHO director-general for health action in crises.

WFP food aid is distributed in Beirut on Saturday. Meanwhile, a French airlift has taken off for Beirut and a Greek ship in Brindisi, Italy is being loaded with vital supplies. (Photo by Marco Frattini courtesy WFP)

Many of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in cramped conditions, in schools and other public buildings and rely on clean water which is brought in daily by trucks, said Nutt.

"If the fuel runs out, the water and food supply to these people will be cut resulting in the quick onset of disease," he warned.

There are three ships anchored off the Lebanese coast laden with fuel - two are government ships and the third is a UN ship with fuel to supply the UN aid effort.

But the Israeli government has not given permission for them to offload the fuel. "This is not acceptable," said Nutt. "The Israeli government is morally and legally obliged to allow this fuel into the country."

Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of the international relief organization Mercy Corps, said that innocent people not only in Lebanon, but in Israel and in the Gaza Strip continue to suffer because of the ongoing conflict. "Our hearts go out to those in need on all sides," he said.

Lebanese girl receives a Mercy Corps relief package. (Photo courtesy Mercy Corps)

"Needs are also great in northern Israel, where a reported 500,000 people are huddled in bomb shelters," he said.

In Syria, UNICEF writer Yazan Neme says the Zabadani Pioneer Camp near Damascus is one of Syria's biggest hosting sites for refugees who have fled ongoing hostilities in Lebanon. The former children's camp has canceled its summer program in order to accommodate 1,700 refugees.

Since the conflict began, nearly 200,000 Lebanese refugees, most of them women and children, have crossed the border into Syria. "Many have fled their homes under fire, trying to save their lives, and have arrived in Syria with little more than the clothes on their backs," Neme writes.

New families continue to pour into the camp, and officials worry that the maximum capacity has already been reached. Meanwhile, camp doctors are concerned by the camp's increasing number of diarrhea cases.

Working with the Syrian Ministry of Health, UNICEF has launched a measles immunization drive in the camp for children under the age of 15, as well as a catch up campaign to complete the vaccinations of children under five and prevent any childhood disease outbreaks among the refugees.

Oxfam’s eight-person Rapid Response Team is now in Beirut where they are assessing people's needs. Oxfam is planning a program of up to US$2.8 million (£1.5m), aiming to help at least 50,000 people within the first three months. "But our plans are dependent on the security situation and our access to communities," the organization said.

Oxfam and other humanitarian groups are calling for an immediate ceasefire to ensure that civilians on all sides are protected from violence. In the UK this week, 30,000 signatures from the public were delivered to Downing Street by humanitarian groups urging Prime Minister Tony Blair to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Humanitarian groups continue to lobby cabinet members, parliamentarians and EU foreign ministers, as well as U.S. government officials to use their influence to end the suffering.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice answers questions on the Lebanon conflict during a news conference with President George W. Bush today in Crawford, Texas. (Photo by Eric Draper courtesy The White House)

Speaking to reporters today at the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, Bush said the first of the resolutions, which the Security Council is now considering, "calls for a stop of all hostilities."

"Hezbollah will be required to immediately stop all attacks," Bush said. "Israel will be required to immediately stop all offensive military operations. In addition, the resolution calls for an embargo on the shipment of any arms into Lebanon, except as authorized by the Lebanese government."

"A second resolution, which the Security Council will begin working on as soon as possible, will help establish a sustainable and enduring cease fire and provide a mandate for a robust international force that will help the legitimate government of Lebanon extend it's authority over all of Lebanon's territory," the President said.

Prime Minister Blair said today he is trying to win the "earliest possible" support for the draft UN Security Council resolutions, which were tabled by the United States and France.