VARIOUS: Much needed aid begins arriving in the Lebanon

Humanitarian aid operations moved into full gear on Saturday (July 29) as aid shipments from various countries and international organisations arrived in Beirut carrying supplies for the 800,000 people displaced by Israel's 18-day bombardment of Lebanon. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), and the International Committee of the Red Cross sent their first shipments of medicines and surgical kits from the island of Cyprus. "Thirty tonnes of medicine, and some other items, there is some dialysis medicine, surgical kits, also some water and sanitation," said MSF project leader Marc Ferriere, as the ship carrying the MSF relief was being loaded and prepared for its journey to Beirut from Larnaca. The U.S. HSV Swift, a fast military catamaran which has shipped aid to survivors of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, also arrived in Beirut on Saturday carrying 20,000 blankets, 2,000 tarpaulins and seven one-tonne of medical kits to support 10,000 people for three months. "We've already seen in some of these areas outbreaks of diarrhoea in small children and we are very concerned about escalating health crisis from water borne illnesses, things can result in hepatitis, and different kind of diseases that can really affect the most vulnerable of the population, children, nursing mothers and the elderly," said Cassandra Nelson of Mercycorps aid Organisation about the humanitarian crisis unfolding the war-torn country. Washington has pledged $30 million to help Lebanon which Israel has pounded with airstrikes since Hizbollah militants killed eight Israeli troops and captured two more in a July 12 cross-border raid. The U.S. aid arrived in Lebanon a day after President George W. Bush apologised to British Prime Minister Tony Blair for using a British airport for transiting "bunker-busting" bombs to Israel. The Israeli bombing has killed at least 462 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and devastated Lebanon's infrastructure with America's refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire angering many people in Lebanon. The U.S. supplies were destined for the Chouf mountains southeast of Beirut where at least 100,000 people have taken refugee. The United Nations has been running aid convoys to towns in southern Lebanon, such as Tyre, Sidon and Jezzine, but getting food and medical supplies safely to the town and villages at the heart of the fighting is proving difficult. In a report on Friday (July 28), the U.S. government said the Red Cross had still not received an agreed safe passage from Israel to distribute aid and 200 villages remain cut off in the south. Some 5,000-10,000 people were still fleeing Lebanon each day and food, medical and other supplies were quickly running out, the report said, adding: "A fuel shortage is imminent". U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland announced a mass operation last week for the delivery of badly needed aid for the country making a 'flash appeal' for $150 million. The sum will cover the needs of displaced civilians for three months. The United Nations will also send convoys to the war torn region in the south to the town of Tyre from Beirut, over the next few days. The European Commission has allocated 11 million euros ($14 million) under the EU's Rapid Reaction Mechanism to fund an appeal by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to help around 10,000 citizens from developing countries return home. Countries such as Britain, have pledged 2.2 million pounds ($4 million), taking total British commitment to 5 million pounds ($ 9.1 million), while Finland, France, Greece are also pledging financial aid and supplies. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has launched a relief campaign by setting up special bank accounts through the OIC's Islamic Development Bank. Several Arab countries have also pledged funds, with aid from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates arriving on Saturday. Other countries are also making donations to non-governmental organisations to distribute help. The International Community pledged during a meeting in Rome last week to step up efforts to relieve the humanitarian crisis that has erupted in the country since fighting began on July 12.

ITN Source | July 29, 2006

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