|PIC1|Action by Churches Together (ACT) partners have distributed the first of 2,000 vital emergency aid parcels to people in Beirut, Lebanon, as Israel rejects a plea from the UN for a pause in the fighting.

The distribution of aid continues despite Israel’s rejection of UN calls for a 72-hour pause in the fighting to enable relief workers to evacuate the elderly, young and wounded from south Lebanon and the delivery of emergency supplies.

ACT member the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is responding to the crisis in Lebanon through its Inter-church Network on Development and Relief (ICNDR).

MECC’s general secretary, Guirgis Saleh, reported that the situation in the country remains critical as fighting continues to displace thousands of people from the southern towns and villages.

|TOP|“Lebanese civilians residing in so-called ‘safer areas’ or districts, have mobilised themselves, volunteering to assist and offer all kinds of help to the displaced, hoping to receive rapid aid from local or international organisations," he reported.

According to ACT, around 100,000 people have turned to churches, monastries and church-owned property including schools to find shelter from the conflict.

Mr Saleh reported that the Patriarchate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch has opened the doors of two of its monasteries, in Maalula and Tal-Kokab in Syria, to provide a place of refuge for people from Lebanon fleeing from the fighting.

MECC is also providing water and working to improve the inadequate sanitation facilities with the help of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).

For the at least 3,000 people who have sought refuge in eight different schools across the Ashrafiyyeh area of eastern Beirut, the most urgent needs are for hygiene and kitchen items.

A rapid response team has been dispatched to Lebanon and will work closely with MECC.