Lebanon - 1/06

Lebanon-Israel conflict

Geneva, 17 July 2006--On 12 July Israel launched an offensive against Lebanon following the capture of two of its soldiers by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Israel attacked Hezbollah positions along the border with heavy artillery, tank fire and aerial assaults. The Israeli air force struck roads, bridges and power stations in the south of Lebanon. Beirut International Airport, Lebanon's only airport, was also bombed. Homes of Hezbollah activists in the south have been targeted as well as the Hezbollah-owned TV station, Al-Manar, and the Hezbollah office in the northern Bekaa city of Baalbeck. Other spots in the southern suburbs of Beirut have also been targeted.

A new wave of attacks came after Hezbollah fired rockets into the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday, 16 July. Early on Monday, Israeli air strikes targeted the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, and the nearby port of Abdeh. Israeli jets also bombed northern parts of Beirut - including fuel-storage tanks in the port area, where fires are raging. Targets in the Bekaa Valley in the east were also hit overnight.

ACT member, the Middle Council of Churches (MECC)/Inter-Church Network for Development and Relief in Lebanon (ICNDR) reports that their staff are monitoring the situation. Co-ordination efforts at the grassroots level are being pursued with other organizations in order to have access to accurate information regarding the displaced and their needs.

MECC/ICNDR is involved in a co-ordination effort set up by a group of NGOs in Saida and Beirut. The two platforms have created the following sub-committees: organizing secretariat, social, health and media relations. These sub-committees will be co-ordinating their efforts with local government bodies.

The prime minister has declared Lebanon a disaster area. The Ministry of Health has prepared an immediate emergency plan and taken responsibility for hospitals and evacuation of the injured. The Ministry of Social Affairs is relying on the NGO sector as the implementing body for its operations. A Joint Ministries Operation Desk, based in the Beirut Government Hospital, has been installed to receive emergency calls and requests from stranded families and individuals.

Both public and private schools have opened their doors in all safe districts to receive the displaced families.

The NGO sector has taken a leading role in providing information, addressing the needs of people in centres for the displaced and providing for patients with chronic illnesses.

Based on information from the field, the most urgent needs of the displaced and stranded people are:

• Volunteers to manage the centers for the displaced
• Mattresses and bedding
• Water
• Cleaning supplies
• Kitchen supplies
• First aid kits
• Medicine for chronic diseases
• Food
• Milk for infants

Civilian casualties have reached 200 dead and 400 wounded. Israel has enforced a complete blockade by air, sea and land. Foreign embassies have deemed the Lebanese-Syrian border unsafe and have started evacuating their citizens from Lebanon on war ships to Cyprus.

MECC/INCDR is preparing a request for ACT Rapid Response Funds. An appeal might be forthcoming.