UN Official: Lebanon Displacement 'Devastating', Support Insufficient

Displaced people sit in a makeshift tent set up on Beirut's seaside promenade - AFP
Displaced people sit in a makeshift tent set up on Beirut's seaside promenade - AFP
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UN Official: Lebanon Displacement 'Devastating', Support Insufficient

Displaced people sit in a makeshift tent set up on Beirut's seaside promenade - AFP
Displaced people sit in a makeshift tent set up on Beirut's seaside promenade - AFP

The displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon is "devastating", a UN migration official has said, warning international support was falling short of the needs, amid intense Israeli bombing.

After a year of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which launched attacks on Israel in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, Israel last month escalated attacks in Lebanon's south, east and south Beirut.

The war has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon and displaced more than one million others, most of them since September 23, according to Lebanese authorities.

"With this wave of displacement, we see huge needs... the situation is devastating," said Othman Belbeisi, the International Organization for Migration's Middle East and North Africa director.

"Lebanon needs more support. What has been offered so far is minimal and does not match the needs," he told AFP on Thursday during a visit to Beirut.

The IOM has "verified and tracked" some 690,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon, Belbeisi said, noting about 400,000 others had reportedly fled the country, many of them for neighbouring Syria.

Around a quarter of the displaced in Lebanon, or more than 185,00 people, are in official shelters such as schools, according to the IOM.

Around another a quarter have rented accommodation, while some 47 percent are living in "host settings", the IOM said.

- Aid appeal -

Many people are staying with relatives, while some with nowhere to go are sleeping on the streets.

"It's really sad to see this (displacement) again in Lebanon," Belbeisi said, in a country that endured a 1975-90 civil war and a monthlong conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

People have fled their homes "with nothing, out of fear, and now they have to rebuild everything once again", he added, as smoke rose from Israeli airstrikes in the city's southern suburbs.

The UN has appealed for $426 million to address the humanitarian crisis in the country over the next three months, including $32 million for the IOM to assist some 400,000 people, Belbeisi said.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA said Friday the appeal was just 12 percent funded, with $51 million received.

Lebanon has been enduring a five-year economic crisis that has impoverished many and crippled government services.

"We hope that everybody will be able to scale up their capacity," Belbeisi said.

"We want this (displacement) to end as soon as possible," he added.



Egypt Strengthens Cooperation with Africa to Tackle Water Challenges

Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
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Egypt Strengthens Cooperation with Africa to Tackle Water Challenges

Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)

Egypt is continuing to strengthen its cooperation with African nations to confront the pressing challenges of water and food security.

“Water issues are a shared challenge that grows more severe due to climate change and resource scarcity, especially given Egypt’s near-total dependence on Nile water,” Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Hani Sewilam said, according to an official statement by the Egyptian Cabinet on Friday.

Speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister during a celebration at the Djibouti Embassy in Cairo marking Djibouti’s 48th independence anniversary, Sewilam emphasized that cross-border cooperation, rooted in principles of international law, is the optimal path to ensure sustainable water resources.

Egypt frequently raises the issue of water security, particularly amid the ongoing crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia has built on the main tributary of the Nile since 2011 to generate electricity. Egypt and Sudan fear it will impact their water shares.

Ambassador Salah Halima, former Assistant Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs, stressed that water security is closely linked to river management and dam operations. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt consistently underscores the importance of respecting international laws and agreements on managing water resources and criticized Ethiopia’s unilateral actions to impose a de facto situation regarding the dam.

Halima added that achieving water security requires cooperation among states in managing water resources and constructing dams, noting that Egypt has valuable experience African nations can benefit from.

Egypt faces a water deficit estimated at 30 billion cubic meters annually. Its share of Nile water amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters per year, while consumption exceeds 85 billion cubic meters. The shortfall is covered by groundwater extraction, seawater desalination projects, and recycling agricultural drainage water, according to the Ministry of Irrigation.

On Friday, Sewilam highlighted the longstanding ties between Egypt and Djibouti as an example of cooperation amid complex regional and global challenges requiring greater unity and shared vision. He noted that the regional and international context demands an understanding of the magnitude of challenges, ranging from security and peace to sustainable development and socio-economic stability, especially in the Arab and African regions.

Egypt is finalizing a memorandum of understanding with Djibouti’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to cooperate in fields such as integrated water resources management, desalination technologies, groundwater recharge, capacity building, knowledge exchange, and joint research.

In parallel, Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Alaa Farouk reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to working with African countries to develop more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural value chains. Speaking during FAO meetings in Rome, he said that strengthening these chains is central to food security, economic growth, and job creation, particularly in rural areas. Farouk also discussed promoting Egyptian investment in Africa to boost agricultural development and food security across the continent.