OCHA Situation Report No. 5
Lebanon
27 July 2006


First UN aid convoy reaches South, UN peacekeeper deaths overshadow Rome 
meeting

1. The first UN relief convoy from Beirut arrived in Tyre today carrying 
WFP, UNICEF, WHO and UNRWA emergency supplies to the devastated south of 
Lebanon. The ten trucks carried 90 tonnes of flour and medical supplies 
which could provide basic healthcare for 50,000 people for three months. 
Four cars carrying UN security staff and a logistics officer accompanied 
the trucks. WFP plans a second convoy on Friday to two different 
locations, pending enough supplies have been gathered and IDF concurs 
with the planned convoys. Israel has agreed to expand corridors in 
Lebanon to deliver aid, and as of today the road between Beirut and the 
Syrian border crossing at Aarida is cleared for UN movement.

2. Four UN monitors in South Lebanon died yesterday when a UNIFIL 
observer post in the town of Khiyam came under repeated fire by IDF. The 
2,000 strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which sits on the 
Israel-Lebanon border, has suffered dozens of attacks and direct hits in 
two weeks of conflict. The deaths of the monitors cast a shadow over 
today's meeting in Rome, where foreign ministers had gathered to discuss 
the two-week old Israeli-Lebanon crisis. The summit, which brought 
together the UN, EU and Arab nations plus the US and the Russian 
Federation, failed to reach agreement on an immediate cease-fire. The 
meeting did call for further discussions on forming a U.N.-authorized 
force to help the Lebanese government exert control over the south. 
There was also agreement on humanitarian and reconstruction packages, 
but it was acknowledged the proposals could not be implemented without a 
cease-fire.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

3. The number of Lebanese killed, according to WHO reports, remains at 
357 with estimated 1,500 injured, the great majority civilians. The 
conflict has affected an estimated 800,000 people, including internally 
displaced, individuals under siege, refugees, and asylum seekers. An 
estimated 700,000 people have fled their homes. Although the majority of 
displaced are staying with relatives and friends, an estimated 125,000 
are staying in schools and public institutions in Lebanon, and 150,000 
have crossed the border into Syria. Many remaining residents in southern 
Lebanon cannot leave due to ongoing attacks and damaged infrastructure. 
Press reports indicate that 42 Israelis have died in nearly two weeks of 
conflict in Lebanon.

4. The conflict continues to cause enormous damage to residential areas 
and key civilian infrastructure with hundreds of bridges and road 
networks, mainly in the South, are systematically destroyed, leaving 
entire communities in the south inaccessible and hampering relief 
operations. Prices for basic goods are skyrocketing and there is an 
increasing lack of essential goods, with needs particularly acute in 
villages along the Israeli-Lebanese border. A fuel shortage is said to 
be imminent.

Security

5. Security Phase IV remains across the country. Heavy exchanges of fire 
continued along the length of the Blue Line in the last 24 hours, with a 
major concentration in Khiyam, Bint Jubayl, At Tiri and Ayn Ibil areas. 
Israeli warplanes bombed 100 targets in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, 
where, today, heavy fighting involving Israeli and Hezbollah forces took 
place. At least nine Israeli soldiers were killed according to Arab 
television stations. Hezbollah also continues its rockets attacks into 
northern Israel, On Wednesday morning the Israeli city of Haifa was once 
again hit by Hezbollah rockets.

6. There are reports of intensive fighting on the ground in the area of 
Aytarun, north east of Marun Al Ras, this morning. A number of civilians 
who are still stranded in these three towns have been caught in the 
cross fire.

Humanitarian situation and International response

7. Lebanon may be heading for a major food crisis with the mass flight 
of people and damage to infrastructure hampering food imports and the 
country's main cereal harvest, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization 
(FAO) said on Wednesday.

8. Some 115,000 Third Country Nationals (TCNs) from some 20 countries 
remain trapped in Lebanon.

9. According to the UNHCR an estimated 150,000 Lebanese and third 
country nationals have now crossed into Syria, with approximately 
5,000-10,000 new comers a day. A total of 250,000 refugees are expected 
in Syria, of which 75,000 will be in immediate need of assistance. The 
Syrian Red Crescent is currently assisting 20,000 refugees in need.

|-------------------+---------|
| IDPs              | Number  |
|-------------------+---------|
| Schools (652)     | 106,780 |
|-------------------+---------|
| Family, friends,  | 550,000 |
| church, mosque    |         |
|-------------------+---------|
| Refugees          | Number  |
|-------------------+---------|
| Syria, Jordan,    | 210,000 |
| Cyprus, Gulf area |         |
|-------------------+---------|
| Total             | 866,780 |
|-------------------+---------|


10. A Jordanian military plane reportedly landed at Beirut's 
international airport this morning to evacuate people seriously wounded 
in the conflict. Airport officials said the aircraft was the first plane 
to land at Beirut's airport since July 13 when Israeli warplanes bombed 
its runways and forced it to close.

11. The WFP emergency team in Beirut is preparing guidelines for partner 
agencies on how to provide cargo to the humanitarian convoys (packaging 
etc.) in Lebanon while the programme team is focusing on coordination 
with partners. Discussion is ongoing between WFP and partners to make 
sure that information is collected in a systematic way, using standard 
data collection methods. WFP has also contacted 27 partners for the 
possibility of food distribution.

12. UNICEF met with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and WHO and it was 
agreed that immunization for measles as well as a 'catch up' campaign 
will start on 30 July. The campaign will be carried out with the support 
of health mobile teams. UNICEF will next week carry out a nutrition 
assessment of the children refugees and will support MOH in setting up a 
monitoring system for the nutritional status of children.

13. IOM is stepping up its efforts to evacuate stranded migrants from 
developing countries trapped in Lebanon. Today, 350 Ethiopians and 300 
Sri Lankans are being taken to Syria on two IOM convoys from where they 
will be flown home. In the next four days, at least another 1,000 other 
stranded migrants from Bangladesh, Ghana, Sri Lanka and the Philippines 
will be evacuated by IOM to Syria by land from where they will be flown 
home.

14. UNFPA is supporting the MoH with urgent supplies and medicines for 
displaced populations and affected health facilities. The agency is also 
providing clean delivery kits, STI kits, clinical delivery kits, blood 
transfusion kits and other kits to Lebanese refugees in Syria.

15. The Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit has identified environmental 
experts who can be deployed to assess and mitigate the risks posed by 
damage to key civilian infrastructure such as power plants, seaports, 
airports and fuel depots which could pose acute environmental pollution 
risks to local populations. Once deployed, the experts will provide 
practical technical support and advice through the clusters and to 
national authorities to reduce hazards to local populations.

16. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had set 
up two southern bases, in the port of Tyre and the town of Marjayoun, 
and was sending medical assistance to border villages needing urgent 
help after two weeks of war. The ICRC is concentrating on 200 villages 
in the hills of southern Lebanon , where heavy bombardment has forced 
tens of thousands to flee and left others stranded. Many remain beyond 
its reach.

Cluster issues

17. In yesterday's sitrep it was reported the IFRC will be responsible 
for the commodity tracking and monitoring of the supply pipeline. UNJLC 
is, in fact, the responsible party for this activity.

This situation report, together with additional information on the 
current crisis is also available on http://www.reliefweb.int. As your 
tool for timely information sharing, please encourage submissions of 
documents and maps by email to submit@reliefweb.int.

Contact Details

|---------------------+-----------------+-----------------|
|Desk Officers: (New  |Mr. Carlos       |Tel:             |
|York)                |Monteiro-Pereira |+1-212-963-4639  |
|---------------------+-----------------+-----------------|
|                     |Mr. Ben Negus    |Tel:             |
|                     |                 |+1-917-367-4374  |
|---------------------+-----------------+-----------------|
|                     |Ms. Heidi Kuttab |Tel:             |
|                     |                 |+1-917-367-33 65 |
|---------------------+-----------------+-----------------|
|Press contact: (NY)  |Ms. Stephanie    |Tel:             |
|                     |Bunker           |+1-917-367-5126  |
|---------------------+-----------------+-----------------|

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