LEBANON: Aid continues to arrive as UN humanitarian officials warned of a deteriorating situation because of problems accessing the south.

Aid continued to arrive in Lebanon on Monday (August 7, 2006), as UN humanitarian officials warned of a deteriorating situation in the country because of problems accessing the south. Box by box, from volunteer to volunteer, around thirty locals carried humanitarian aid from one side of the Litani river to the other after an Israeli air strike destroyed the bridge, cutting off the main artery for aid to the southern port of Tyre and hard-hit areas nearby. The aid from Medecins San Frontieres (MSF - Doctors Without Borders), arrived from Sidon by truck but had to be carried to the other side where it was taken in another convoy to Tyre. The bombing of the bridge had earlier blocked the MSF convoy of food, medical aid and fuel from reaching Tyre, which has seen an increase in wounded from heavy fighting this week. In Sidon, the first ship with aid supplies arrived, almost a month after the beginning of the crisis in the region. A Red Cross cargo ship carrying medical supplies and food docked in the Sidon port. "We are bringing food. In this one we have baby food and we have meals ready to eat. We have 100,000 meals ready to eat, 116,000 baby food packs," said logistic coordinator Thierry Fournier from the International Committee of the Red Cross. In the Lebanese capital, a Greek military ship carrying humanitarian aid arrived. Water and food supplies were unloaded off the ship and are scheduled to be delivered to some of the country's most desperate displaced families. The latest supplies arrived as humanitarian groups voiced complaints that Israeli artillery, air strikes and a naval blockade are hindering them from helping many of the 800,000 to 1 million people displaced by the war in Lebanon. UN Humanitarian Coordinator David Shearer said that Lebanon has been virtually cut off from the outside world due to the blockade. The United Nations said it sent a convoy of 19 trucks carrying aid south of Beirut to Sidon. Another 11 trucks brought supplies south from stockpiles in Syria on a slow, difficult route of secondary roads after Israeli jets destroyed four bridges on what the U.N. called its aid "lifeline" on Thursday. Shearer said that movement of their convoys depended on Israeli security clearances and most journeys are taking longer than usual due to damages caused to roads and bridges. "The U.N. in addition to this, in terms of our operations, is facing increasing difficulties in terms of being able to move around the country. We, as you know, are permitted to move in particular convoys, on particular routes, in particular times by the Israelis. However, many of these routes have been destroyed. We are now taking extremely long detours to move from one place to another," he said. Israeli air strikes have destroyed around 70 bridges, as well as roads, airports and ports in damage estimated at more than 2.5 billion US dollars.

ITN Source | August 8, 2006

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