Lebanon intensifies efforts to address humanitarian crisis

Nearly three weeks into Israel's heavy strikes on Lebanon, civilians are increasingly organizing humanitarian aid themselves, News.Az reports citing Deutsche Welle.

"I joined a local initiative, and we distribute donations between several shelters and schools," Rayan Chaya told DW in Aley, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the capital, Beirut.

The 27-year-old mechanical engineer has been setting up databases with places to rent and eat for free. He also organized a wheelchair for a family who had to leave theirs behind when they fled.

"We're in a crisis, and if we don't help each other, who will?" he said. "The government isn't taking any serious action."

Heiko Wimmen, Lebanon project director at the International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental conflict prevention organization, confirmed this view.

"The level of humanitarian support for the population is what you would expect from a country whose political structures do not really function," he said.

Years of political instability, in combination with an ongoing economic crisis, have left Lebanon on the brink of collapse.

The dire situation was further exacerbated in late September when Israel escalated its attacks on Hezbollah, after a year of limited fighting. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the US and Germany, while the EU classifies its armed wing as a terrorist group.

Since then, several Hezbollah leaders have been killed and more than 2,000 civilians have died in the Israeli attacks, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Some 608,000 people are currently internally displaced, according to the latest update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA. Lebanese authorities have said this figure is twice as high.

News.Az