Sitrep No: 23

Date:16/08/2006

Lebanon under siege offers up-to-date information on relief efforts and diplomatic initiatives. The site lists locations of shelter and Aid distribution, along with a tally of damage, casualties and official statements. Significantly, the site is available in three languages. This site is the official Lebanese government source of information.

1-Current situation:

As thousands of displaced Lebanese civilians jammed bombed-out roads in the hope of returning home, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on Tuesday warning civilians not to head home until the Lebanese Army and UN peacekeepers are deployed in the region.

Entering the south and Beirut's Suburb, you observe the incredible destruction of infrastructure andcivilians buildings caused by powerful Israel's war machine. Rubbles and shattered glasses blocking your way In/Out and, Bulldozer and rescue workers recovering dozens of bodies from under the rubbles. The UNIFIL peace keeping forces said" initial assessments in some southern villages showed that between 50 and 80 percent of civilian homes had been destroyed.

The Lebanese Civil Defense pulled over 10 bodies from the rubble in the Dahiyeh Tuesday, as witnesses claimed they still heard screams from under the demolished buildings,Civil Defense workers said three or four families were trapped in two shelters in the basement of the buildings, they could not access the shelter because the rubble kept collapsing, causing further blockage and problems recovering the bodies.

The Lebanese Red Cross confirmed that another 61 bodies had been found in the south and 18 people had been injured in rubble-related accidents.

The Cumulative figures of casualties are showing hereinafter.

Estimated No. of Death: / 61,152
Estimated No. of Injured people: / 34036
  • H.H Sheikh Khlifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued Directives to resume mine clearing operation in South Lebanon.”H.H Sheikh Khalifa has instructed the concerned authorities to cooperate with the General Secretariat of the United Nations and the Lebanese Government to resume de-mining operation in south Lebanon on accordance with the UN Security Council’s resolution 1701, calling on Israel to hand over maps of the land mines it laid in Lebanon”, Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said.

In May 2004, the UAE Armed Forces completed the third phase of the USD 50 million operations, initiated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to clear 130,000 mines laid by the Israeli forces in tens of villages in south Lebanon.

  • Sidon MP Mrs. Bahia Harriri announced that parliamentary majority leader MP Mr. Saad Hariri and his brother Bahaaedine had offered to rebuild five bridges in the southern port city "as soon as possible". Mrs. Harriri,s pledge came as she was inspecting bridges from Rmeileh to Zahrani destroyed by the Isreali onslaught. The Casino du Liban announced Tuesday that it would undertake the reconstruction of the two bridges in Ghazir and Maameltein along the northern coastal highway at its own expenses. Lebanese businessman Amal Hourani would contribute to reconstruct two bridges on the litany river. .
  • Activists and volunteers from Green Line, Anenvironmental NGO, said Tuesday that they would start oil spill clean-up operations on the Ramlet al-Baida beach on Tuesday. Green Line activists will use absorbent booms to pump up polluted seawater and sand. Dr Ali Darwish, a green line member, said that the ministry needed to provide adequate spaces to store collect oil. Darwish called on the international community to pressure Israel to pay for the clean up operation. Darwish also urged the ministry to put into effect a long term plan to handle the effects of spill on the environment, stressing that the impact will be "serious on the marine ecosystem but also on fishermen and tourism." The Environment ministry is still working on a comprehensive clean-up plan, said spokeswoman Ms Ghada Mitri. "The ministry has received sophisticatematerials including skimmers and large booms from Norway a few days ago and they being tested in Jbeil, Mitri said. The ministry is looking into how to handle the collected oil. One option is to treat and reuse it; others are to store it or have it disposed of, Mitri added.
  • H.E Prime minister Fouad Siniora announced that the higher relief commission will start immediately paying financial aids to war effected civilians casualties through the council for the south.
  • Acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said Tuesday that the Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi,s institution would provide the Lebanese civil defense with 100 million worth of equipments.
  • UNHCR and IOM are arranging Bus convoys for Lebanese from Damascus to Beirut and From Beirut to south Lebanon", we are assisting those who cannot afford to return", UNHCR said. "We are trying to group people by village in each Bus, so we can take them all the way to their final destination", IOM stated.
  • UN Agencies Dispatched two humanitarian convoys totaling 24 trucks carrying food, medical supplies, water and sanitary goods to tyre. In total, nine convoys have been dispatched yesterday, with other seven heading for destinations including Hasbaya in the south east, saida and Tripoli. In addition to emergency supplies, key security and road assessment will be made by specialized agencies. In addition the UN agencies will carry out rapid assessment of the extent of damage to water systems; Installation of emergency water systems where damage is extreme; provision of fuel for pumping stations; water trucking; distribution of emergency bottled water supplies until systems are repaired; and repair to sanitation systems, or installation of emergency sanitation systems where required.

2- Movement of Displaced Population:

Thousands of displaced Lebanese continue returning to south Lebanon, UNICEF estimates that some 6,000 people an hour are heading back towards the worst hit areas in the south of the country.

The following shows the percentage of displaced who have left the displaced centers (Schools/Institutions) in the past 48 Hours.

District / Number of displaced before ceasefire / Number of remained displaced. / Percentage of Returned displaced.
Beirut / 39,293 / 2,809 / 92.8
Mount Lebanon / 60,779 / 11,601 / 80.9
North / 9,685 / 2,236 / 76.9
South / 27,268 / 3,721 / 86.3
BekhaaValley / 5372 / 1,857 / 65.4
Total / 142,397 / 33,170 / 80.45

The overallestimated figures of displaced population in Lebanonare shown here bellow.

Displaced / Other Information
Schools / 33,170 / sheltered in 879 schools/institutions
Unallocated. (Estimated). / 200,000 / Sheltered with host families, friends,etc.
Neighboring Countries(Estimated) / 100,000 / Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, and Gulf area.
Total / 333,170

3- Food and non-food items distributed by the higher relief commission.

The daily distribution carried out by the higher relief commission of food and non-food items continued to schools and host houses sheltering displaced.

The cumulative figures of distributed aids by the higher relief commission described hereinafter.

Description / daily distribution
To Schools/ Host houses.
(Family/week) / Cumulative distributed up to date. Schools/Host houses.
(Family/week).
Food Basket/Family/week. / 10,400 / 338,000
Food Basket/children/week / 0 / 16,868
Blankets / 0 / 126,517
Mattresses / 200 / 138,336
Hot meal/family/day / 12,491 / 561,038
Medical Supplies / N/A / N/A

4- In kind donations.

The followingsIn-kind donations were received by the higher relief commission.

Date / Description / Unit / QTY / Donated by.
16/08/06 / Food / Trucks / 10.5 / Humanitarian association in Jordan.
16/08/06 / Food / Ton / 120 / Government of Sultanate Oman.
15/08/06 / Food and medicine / Truck / 5 / Palestinian industries.
16/08/06 / Food / Plane / 2 / Palestinian industries.
16/08/06 / Medicines/Food / Plane / 2 / UAE for Caritas

5-Destruction/damages:

The cumulative figures of Israel destructionsin Lebanonare shown hereinafter.

Description / QTY / Units
Vital Points ( Airports, Ports, Water and sewage treatment plants, Electrical plants, Army brigades, water dams etc. / 31 / No
Roads / 94 / Roads
Fuel stations / 25 / No
Bridges / 77 / No
Private houses/ Apartments (estimated) / 10,500 / No
Commercial sector (factories, markets, farms and medium size enterprises etc) / 900 / No

5- Constraints:

  • Lack of food and non-food items needed to serve displaced population. The available quantities presents approximately 50%of the actual needed quantity.
  • Targeting communication lines, cellular relay stations have led to disturbing all kind of communication between cities and villages.
  • Israel air and sea siege over Lebanon has blocked bringing international aides.
  • Estimated total losses had reached 4 billion USD up to date.
  • Targeting factories has drastically stopped all kind of local production for food and non-food items.
  • Lack of fuel has cut off aid lifeline.
  • Unemployment rate has reached an approximate figure of 75%