AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

GENEVA: The Red Cross on Tuesday urgently appealed for more than $115 million to address towering needs in Lebanon amid Israel’s dramatic escalation in hostilities targeting Hezbollah.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it had launched an appeal for 100 million Swiss francs ($115.8 million) to help provide immediate and long-term relief to around 600,000 people affected by the conflict.

The money would also go to supporting the vital ambulance services run by the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) in the conflict-torn country.

“Humanitarian needs in Lebanon are growing by the day,” IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain, who is currently visiting Beirut, said in a statement.

“The funds raised in this appeal will allow the Lebanese Red Cross to sustain their life-saving programmes and to reach far more people with far more positive impact,” he said.

“The needs are immense. I urge potential donors to do what they can to help contribute.”

Israeli strike closes off road used to flee Lebanon, transport minister says

The appeal comes after Israel escalated its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in south Lebanon, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley on September 23, after nearly a year of cross-border fire, and a week later sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.

At least 3,002 people have been killed in Lebanon since clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began last October, the health ministry said, including at least 1,964 since September 23, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

The war has also pushed more than a million people to flee their homes, with over 800,000 people displaced within the country, according to UN figures, and over half a million having crossed into Syria, most of them Syrians, according to Lebanese authorities.

The IFRC highlighted the importance of scaling up aid at a time when so many people are displaced and winter is approaching.

“We are seeing a huge need for basic goods to help the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes,” Lotte Ruppert, operations manager for the IFRC in Beirut, said in the statement.

“Going back to their houses is not an option at this moment, as the conflict areas are still very dangerous. On top of that, we are concerned for the safety of all health workers, including LRC volunteers, especially in the south of Lebanon.”

IFRC appeal comes after a donor conference in Paris last month raked in around $800 million in pledges for aid in Lebanon.

But the United Nations cautioned last week that those pledges still needed to be transformed into cash, and warned that a separate UN appeal for $426 million for Lebanon launched more than a month ago was still just 17 percent funded.

Comments

200 characters