DEKWANEH, Lebanon (AP) — If the monthslong conflict playing out on the Lebanese-Israeli border continues to escalate, the United Nations food agency won't be ready for the spike in nutritional needs across crisis-hit Lebanon, its deputy executive director said Wednesday. Clashes between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces began on Oct. 8, a day after Israel started bombarding the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ deadly rampage in southern Israel, and the tensions between the two sides continue to intensify .
“So far we’ve been able to manage based on the existing resources we have,” UN World Food Program’s Carl Skau , who is on a brief visit to the small Mediterranean nation, told The Associated Press. The WFP provides aid to over 158,000 people in Lebanon affected by the hostilities, including 93,000 displaced from their homes. But the agency does not have the funding to address the growing humanitarian needs “should the situation further escalate and further deteriorate,” Skau said.
Given donor fatigue and shrinking international aid budgets, it isn't clear where the additional funding can come from. Skau toured a WFP warehouse stocking food rations in the northern Beirut suburb of Dekwaneh, built during the COVID-19 pandemic when Lebanon’s economy began to spiral, allowing the agency to stockpile some supplies. With the current situation, the UN agency fears those supplies could drain quickly with no backup plan.
Lebanon has also been suff.
