Attacks in Lebanon

Water supply for 360,000 people at risk

Palestinian refugees in Beirut fill drinking water into the containers they have brought with them.

(Bild: APA/AFP/JOSEPH EID)

The Israeli army once again carried out massive attacks on targets in Lebanon on Sunday - including targeting a "command center" of the Hezbollah militia in Beirut. Dozens of villages and towns in the south of the country were also bombed. The bombings and the fighting on the ground are making the country's water supply increasingly difficult.

Following problems with the supply of clean water for displaced people, the UN observer mission UNIFIL in the country has now also reported water shortages for its troops. They had run out of water in the village of Mais al-Jabal near the Israeli border after weeks without supplies, UNIFIL reported. Because roads in the area are closed, UN troops at this post last received a water supply three weeks ago. Access to positions in this area is "difficult".

The soldiers of the UNIFIL mission are also struggling with water shortages.

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

Aid organizations are trying to maintain access to water and sanitary facilities. The UN Children's Fund UNICEF reported that at least 28 water facilities have been damaged in the conflict, affecting the water supply for 360,000 people, mainly in the south.

A water truck in Beirut

(Bild: APA/AFP/IBRAHIM AMRO)

Risk of cholera outbreaks and other diseases
"The ongoing bombardments are disrupting essential water and sanitation services across Lebanon, increasing the risk of cholera outbreaks," UNICEF said. Young children are particularly at risk. Aid workers are therefore distributing disinfection kits and water purification tablets wherever possible.

Humanitarian organizations estimate that around one million people now need access to health, water and sanitation services. In some cases, places that are receiving large numbers of internally displaced people are simply overwhelmed by the enormous increase in water demand. The country's healthcare system is already on the verge of collapse. "It would be important for the bombing of hospitals to stop so that medical care does not continue to deteriorate," an emergency doctor from the organization Doctors Without Borders told the Swiss broadcaster SRF a few days ago. "An immediate ceasefire would be a dramatic improvement in the situation," the aid worker continued.