The Israeli army carried out further mass attacks on targets in Lebanon on Sunday, including a Hezbollah militia ‘command centre’ in Beirut. Dozens of villages and towns in the south of the country were also bombed. The bombings and fighting on the ground are making the country’s water supply increasingly difficult.
After problems with the supply of clean water for displaced people, the UN observation mission UNIFIL in the country also reported a water shortage among its troops. UNIFIL said the town of Mais al-Jabal, near the Israeli border, had run out of water after weeks without supplies. Because roads in the area are closed, UN troops at this post last received a water delivery three weeks ago. Access to positions in this area is ‘difficult’.
Aid agencies are working to maintain access to water and sanitation. The UN children’s agency UNICEF reported that at least 28 water supplies have been damaged during the conflict, affecting water supplies for 360,000 people, mainly in the south.
Danger of cholera outbreaks and other epidemics
“The ongoing bombardment is disrupting essential water and sanitation services across Lebanon, increasing the risk of cholera outbreaks,” UNICEF said. Small children are especially at risk. Helpers therefore hand out disinfection kits and water purification tablets where possible.
Humanitarian organizations estimate that around one million people now need access to health care, water and sanitation. In some cases, places hosting large numbers of internally displaced people are simply overwhelmed by the dramatic increase in water demand. The country’s healthcare system is already on the brink of collapse. “It would be important for the bombing of hospitals to stop so that medical care does not deteriorate further,” an emergency doctor from the organization Doctors Without Borders told Swiss broadcaster SRF a few days ago. “A dramatic improvement in the situation would be an immediate ceasefire,” the aid worker continued.
Source: Krone
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