Hezbollah-Israel hostilities have worsened sufferings of refugees, local communities in Lebanon: Aid group

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have worsened the sufferings of refugees and local communities in Lebanon, a major aid group operating in the region said on Thursday.

“More than six months of hostilities have inflicted deep suffering on refugees and local communities in South Lebanon. All aspects of life have been affected by ongoing conflict across the border area, exacerbated by the multiple crises facing Lebanon,” Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in a statement on his recent visit to the country.

Noting that the exchange of explosives across the Lebanese-Israeli border has affected civilians on both sides, he said 90,000 civilians living in southern Lebanese villages were displaced and 70 lives were lost.

Moreover, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanese villages have caused widespread damage to hundreds of acres of agricultural lands, disrupting farmers’ only source of income, Egeland maintained.

According to the statement, the hostilities also played a role in furthering the crises and hence fueled the tension between locals and Syrian and Palestinian refugees.

“Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian populations have all been devastated by the economic crisis. On top of this, humanitarian aid has been cut with increased suffering among the most vulnerable among refugees as well as Lebanese nationals,” it said.

NRC called on the parties to the conflict and international mediators to do more to avert escalating war and for regional peace and stability.

Tensions have escalated along Lebanon’s border with Israel since last October, when the Israeli army launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 34,200 people following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in intermittent exchanges of fire in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.