Middle East Death Toll, Humanitarian Concerns Escalate

International outcry and protests demanding immediate cease-fire followed the highest death toll from a single Israeli strike on Sunday as requests for safe corridor for humanitarian aid remains unmet.

|TOP|In the southern town of Qana, nearly 60 Lebanese civilians were killed on Sunday including at least 34 children and 12 women, reported The Associated Press. Hezbollah responded to the offense by firing 157 rockets into northern Israel on Sunday – the highest number in a one-day thus far in the 20 days of conflict.

Escalating civilian deaths has alarmed the world and especially aid agencies working to meet the needs of some of the 750,000 displaced Lebanese. Church World Service (CWS) is one such group concerned over the growing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and urging safe passage needed to deliver humanitarian aid to affected populations.

“The U.N. has been asking for opening of humanitarian corridors,” said CWS Emergency Response Program Director Donna Derr in a statement released by the group on Friday. “But so far those corridors haven’t materialised and transport routes and communication in the damaged Lebanese regions are severely hindered.”

CWS announced on Friday that it is responding in the region and has issued an initial $1 million fundraising appeal.

Derr continues, “It’s an increasingly critical situation, with bridges destroyed, so many roads impassable, airports and power supplies bombed and inoperable.”

|AD|CWS shipped an initial 5,000 CWS health kits, 500 water containers and a large supply of blankets to support the works of its partner International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) in the region.

Other urgent supplies will be shipped to the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), who will work through its Inter-church Network for Development in Lebanon (ICNDR) program and with the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International network.

Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Catholic Relief Services, Christian Aid UK, Caritas Internationalis, Medical Assistance Programs International, Lutheran World Relief, World Relief, and World Vision are some other Christian groups responding to the Lebanon crisis.

Meanwhile, in response to the Qana bloodshed, Israel has apologised for the deaths and pledged to investigate. However, it pointed out Hezbollah fired more than 40 rockets from Qana before the airstrike and used “their own civilian population as human shields,” accused Israel’s foreign ministry official Gideon Meir according to AP.

Condoleezza Rice responded to the Qana incident by cutting short her Mideast mission on Monday to return to Washington to confer with President Bush. Rice in a televised speech before leaving Israel said she will seek international consensus for a cease-fire and a “lasting settlement” between Lebanon and Israel through the U.N. Security Council resolution this week, AP reported.

"I am convinced that only by achieving both will the Lebanese people be able to control their country and their future, and the people of Israel finally be able to live free of attack from terrorist groups in Lebanon," Rice said.





Michelle Vu
Christian Today Correspondent