With well over 750 people in Lebanon dead, one-third of those children, and a severe fuel shortage in Lebanon threatening the existence of hospitals there, Ahmad Fawzi, U.N. Director of Media and News said today that the country is becoming a humanitarian “disaster.” “The conditions on the ground are treacherous and the security situation is not getting any better,” said Fawzi in his daily briefing to reporters. Lebanon is hampered by shortages in funding and in fuel, as Lebanon is a fuel-importing country, he said. “Three hospitals in the south were shut down because of lack of fuel,” said Fawzi. A freighter filled with fuel bought by the government is stuck in international water while the U.N. is trying to facilitate its passage to dock in Beirut and Tripoli, he added. Not only are there fuel shortages, especially in the south, but a severe water shortage is prompting people to drink from animal ponds that are contaminated with bacteria, according to the U.N. agency the World Food Program (WFP). Truck convoys are also being turned around due to hostilities. Only six out of 18 trucks holding food, water, and medicine were able to reach the southern village of Tebnin. “We are increasingly frustrated that our convoy movements are being hampered, leaving people in the south stranded for what is now nearly three weeks,” said Amer Daoudi, WFP Emergency Coordinator. “We have no time to waste—they are running out of food, water and medicine. Many are poor, sick, or elderly and could not be evacuated earlier,” he added.
