UN and Lebanon Launch an Appeal for $426 Million in Urgent Aid

Search and rescue team members try to find victims following an overnight raid by the Israel army on the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh, in Sidon, Lebanon, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
Search and rescue team members try to find victims following an overnight raid by the Israel army on the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh, in Sidon, Lebanon, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
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UN and Lebanon Launch an Appeal for $426 Million in Urgent Aid

Search and rescue team members try to find victims following an overnight raid by the Israel army on the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh, in Sidon, Lebanon, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
Search and rescue team members try to find victims following an overnight raid by the Israel army on the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Hilweh, in Sidon, Lebanon, 01 October 2024. (EPA)

The United Nations and the Lebanese government have launched a $426 million flash appeal for urgent humanitarian aid for civilians caught up in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

The appeal was launched in Beirut Tuesday by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza.

Mikati said that Lebanon is going through “one of the most dangerous moments in its history.” He said that 1 million people have been displaced as a result “of the destructive war launched by Israel on Lebanon.”

The flash appeal seeks to assist the displaced by addressing urgent needs in areas such as food, basic assistance, shelter, health care, water and municipal services, the UN said.

“Without sufficient resources, humanitarians risk leaving the population of an entire country without the support they urgently require,” Riza warned. He added that no amount of aid can fully address the crisis if civilians continue to be targeted.



UN Will Not Take Part in US-Backed Aid Effort in Gaza 

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Will Not Take Part in US-Backed Aid Effort in Gaza 

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The United Nations said on Thursday it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, while Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries.

"This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this," deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday.

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will start work in Gaza by the end of May under a heavily-criticized aid plan that the UN aid chief Tom Fletcher described as a "fig leaf for further violence and displacement" of Palestinians in Gaza.

The foundation intends to work with private US security and logistics firms to transport aid into Gaza for distribution by aid groups, a source familiar with the plan has told Reuters.

Speaking to reporters in Antalya, Türkiye, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday acknowledged the criticisms and said Washington was open to any alternative plan to get aid to civilians "without Hamas being able to steal it."

"We're not immune or in any way insensitive to the suffering of the people of Gaza, and I know that there's opportunities here to provide aid for them," Rubio said after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday.

"There are criticisms of that plan. We're open to an alternative if someone has a better one," he said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Thursday that the UN "has a solid and principled operational plan to deliver humanitarian aid and life-saving services at scale and immediately across the Gaza Strip."

STARVATION LOOMS

Israel has accused the Palestinian group Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and has blocked the delivery of all humanitarian assistance to Gaza since March 2, demanding Hamas release all remaining hostages.

A global hunger monitor warned on Monday that half a million people face starvation - a quarter of the population in the Palestinian enclave where Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 2023.

In a bid to address some concerns, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has asked Israel to expand an initial limited number of so-called secure aid distribution sites in Gaza's south to the north within 30 days. It has also asked Israel to let the UN and others resume aid deliveries now until it is set up.

"I'm not familiar with those requests, maybe when they went into Jerusalem, but I will tell you that we appreciate the effort of the United States," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday.

"We will not fund those efforts. We will facilitate them. We will enable them," he said. "We will not be the one giving the aid ... It will be run by the fund itself, led by the US."

Israel and the US have urged the UN and aid groups to cooperate and work with the foundation.

It is unclear how the foundation will be funded. A State Department spokesperson said no US government funding would go to the foundation.

A fact sheet on the foundation, circulating among the aid community last week, listed respected former UN World Food Program chief David Beasley as a potential adviser. However, a source familiar with the effort said Beasley was not currently involved.