Heavy exchanges of fire continued with the same intensity along the length of the Blue Line in the last 24 hours. Hezbollah fired rockets from various locations, and the IDF continued the shelling and aerial bombardment. The IDF is still present on the ground inside Lebanese territory in the area of Marun Al Ras in the central sector, including inside the village itself. There were seven incidents of firing close to UN positions from the Israeli side during the past 24 hours, mainly due to aerial bombardment in the area of the patrol base of the Observer Group Lebanon in Khiam. Read more about Lebanon: Heavy exchanges of fire continue
The number of casualties and displaced persons continues to increase. Official figures report 346 dead and over 1,234 injured, the great majority civilians. Thirty-seven Israelis have been killed, about half of them civilians. The Israeli military hit the Rashidiyeh Palestine Refugee camp in Tyre today for the first time in its offensive, wounding 6 people. The total number of affected people includes some 150,000 Lebanese, 1,000 Palestinians and 20,000 Third Country Nationals who have reached Syria. In addition, 115,000 Third Country Nationals (TCNs) from some 20 countries remain in Lebanon. Read more about OCHA: Civilian death toll mounts in Lebanon
Syrian Fadi Rustom is back home in Damascus after 10 years in Lebanon. The restaurant he worked in, in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley closed shortly after Israel began attacking Hizbullah targets there. Israel has been bombing Lebanon since 12 July. “I used to earn $1,000 a month,” Rustom says, “but in Syria I think I will get just $600.” Syria’s Interior Minister, Bassam Abdel Majid, says more than 81,000 Syrians have fled from Lebanon over the past few days, making the short but treacherous journey back to their homeland. Read more about Workers return home to Damascus from Lebanon
The United Nations is asking for US$150 million from donor countries to assist around 800,000 people in Lebanon. The UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland launched the appeal in Beirut on Monday. Egeland said the ‘flash appeal’ was to cover a period of just three months and “the clock just started ticking.” Around US $10 million of the money requested would go to help people fleeing Lebanon into Syria. Read more about UN asks for US $150 million in aid
In an exclusive interview with the UN’s Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, in Beirut on Monday, Jan Egeland told IRIN the humanitarian situation in Lebanon is rapidly deteriorating. Israel has been attacking Lebanon since 12 July displacing at least 700,000 civilians, the UN says. Read more about Egeland says situation "deteriorating by the day"
The Egyptian government and its Red Crescent have been criticised by opponents and the media for responding relatively slowly to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Lebanon. It took until 23 July, the twelfth day of bombing in Lebanon, for the Egyptian Red Crescent to send emergency assistance to Lebanon, according to the semi-official Al-Ahram newspaper. The Egyptian government did send two planes bearing goods early on in the crisis, but has done very little else since, it said. Read more about Islamist and NGO aid to Lebanon outweighs that of Egyptian government's
The UN is urgently appealing to Damascus to ease restrictions at the Syria-Lebanon border to allow Palestinians fleeing Lebanon to enter. “There are 200 Palestinians stranded at border points; some on the main Damascus-Beirut route, others at Dabboussyah near the border governorate of Homs,” Panos Moumtzis, director of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) in Syria, told IRIN on Monday. More than 100,000 people, mostly Syrian but including Lebanese and other foreign nationals, have fled ongoing Israeli attacks and crossed into Syria since 12 July. Some 150 Palestinians have crossed into Damascus since the crisis started. Read more about Palestinians stranded at Syria/Lebanon border
Community leaders in Lebanon’s largest refugee camp, Borj al-Barajneh in southern Beirut, say thousands of Palestinian families have fled the area around the camp, and sought safety inside it, straining its fragile resources. Terrified families, they say, are now living as many as 16 persons to a room. “This camp is a disaster area,” says Abu Zaher al-Habet, a member of the Popular Committee that organises the camp. Read more about Another generation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon comes under fire
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said Monday that his agency is positioning more than 500 tonnes of relief supplies along the Syria-Lebanon border but urgently needs assurances of safe passage to deliver the much-needed supplies to tens of thousands of displaced people. “UNHCR is trucking some 40 trailers loaded with over 500 tonnes of aid supplies from our regional warehouse in Jordan to Syria. It’s frustrating that we can’t deliver this aid, particularly when there are thousands of uprooted civilians just a few hours away in Lebanon who desperately need it.” Read more about Guterres urges rapid humanitarian response for Lebanon displaced
Heavy exchanges of fire continued along the length of the Blue Line in the last 24 hours, with somewhat reduced intensity in the eastern sector. Hezbollah fired rockets from various locations, and the IDF continued the shelling and aerial bombardment. The IDF maintained its presence on the ground inside Lebanese territory in the area of Marun Al Ras in the central sector, and somewhat advanced north of the village in the direction of Bint Jubayl. Read more about Heavy exchanges of fire continue
