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Unexploded ordnance is a threat to returning Lebanese civilians and aid workers
Family in a center for displaced people in Lebanon.
Photo: Hege Opseth/NCA-ACT
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Beirut-Action by Churches Together member Christian Aid has warned that displaced Lebanese civilians returning home when a ceasefire is agreed should be on their guard against unexploded cluster bombs and other munitions fired by Israeli forces.
According to experts, Israeli forces have been firing around 3,000 rockets, artillery shells, cluster bombs, and other artillery into Lebanon each day, for the past 27 days of the conflict.
It is estimated that around 10 percent of these munitions have not exploded, so it is likely there are more than 7,000 unexploded munitions across the conflict zone.
Speaking from Beirut, Christian Aid's security manager, Kiruja Micheni, said: "If there is a ceasefire, the 900,000 people believed to have fled the fighting will want to return home.
"But there is a danger that they could be injured or killed by unexploded ordnance, including cluster bombs. Aid workers too need to do proper risk assessments before setting up operations in the south. This ordinance will slow down the relief effort, but proper precautions must be taken."
Andrew Gleeson of the UK-based Mines Action Group (MAG) said this ordnance would be highly unstable and could detonate easily if moved.
Mr Gleeson, a former British army bomb disposal expert, said: "The explosive material will deteriorate over time. Heat and rain will make the material less stable."
The Lebanese government is working with the UN and MAG on a 12-week emergency action plan to deal with the worst of the problem, once a ceasefire is agreed.
In another development today, the UN warned that there were only seven to eight days' worth of fuel left in Lebanon.
In Beirut, Dominic Nutt, Christian Aid's emergencies specialist and member of the ACT International Coordination Assessment Team, said: "If fuel runs out this will have a major effect on the displaced Lebanese population.
"Many are living in cramped conditions, in schools and other public buildings and rely on clean water which is brought in daily by trucks.
"If the fuel runs out, the water and food supply to these people will be cut resulting in the quick onset of disease."
There are three ships anchored off the Lebanese coast laden with fuel - two are government ships and the third is a UN ship with fuel to supply the UN aid effort.
But the Israeli government has so far not given permission for them to offload the fuel.
"This is not acceptable," said Mr Nutt. "The Israeli government is morally and legally obliged to allow this fuel into the country."
Church World Service is a member of Action by Churches Together.
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Humanitarian situation worsens for people of Lebanon
It is becoming increasingly difficult to get aid out to those in need in Lebanon. Local ACT member and long-time Church World Service partner, the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), reports that its warehouse now only contains enough relief supplies to last another three days.
By Hege Opseth
Beirut-Heavy bombardments that crushed bridges and parts of the main road between Syria and Lebanon in the early morning hours of Friday (August 4), have put enormous pressure on aid agencies and churches trying to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people.
"The goods we have are being distributed quickly," said Shad Hajj Nassif, MECC-ACT's emergency coordinator.
"With the isolation of Beirut, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get what we need."
The basement of a building of a faculty of theology has been turned into a 'relief warehouse'. People displaced by the Israeli offensive are volunteering here, helping organise the emergency parcels that contain food and hygiene items.
The last 27 days have seen people's lives changed forever. Many who fled the bombardment of their villages and the southern suburbs of Beirut, lost all their belongings. Only a few managed to bring extra clothes. Their independence has been stripped away, forcing them to rely on relief efforts by local and international relief organisations, including the churches.
"Some people cry when they get their emergency rations," a local volunteer in one of the centres supported by ACT International member MECC said.
As for the relief items, MECC's Nassif explained: "We have supplies for another 2,000 emergency packets. That is enough for some three days.
"When our warehouse is empty we will manage, but it is going to be expensive. Being limited to suppliers in Beirut, prices are going up every day."
Because of the deterioration in security, truck drivers in Lebanon are afraid that they may be a potential target for the Israelis when they move on the roads. MECC-ACT's solution has been to use smaller trucks when distributing aid.
"It means that we have to go back and forth three or four times to distribute aid. But, we continue working and are trying to find solutions," said Nassif.
Dwindling supplies of fuel, other basics, and a safe corridor to bring in aid are causing deep concern, as is the lack of access to those in need.
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Qana-a place of sorrow
Kamleh, who like so many others fled her home in Qana, now faces an uncertain future. "Those who died were my neighbors, my friends," she says. And still the fear remains that Saida, a place of refuge for her and others, will be bombed too.
By Hege Opseth
Beirut-Images of the recent bombing of Qana keep playing out over the Arabic television channels available in Lebanon.
The images speak to the brutality of war-and the nightmarish reality of the people of Lebanon. For the tens of thousands of people who have sought relative safety in the town of Saida, news of Israeli leaflets being distributed, calling on people to evacuate, only serves to fuel their nightmares.
In one school in Saida, (where long-time Church World Service partner the Middle East Council of Churches has been distributing emergency relief parcels) more than 1,000 people have crammed into the classrooms. Water and sanitation is poor. Some people ask for fresh clothes, the ones they fled in, no longer fresh. Many just want to go home, but also knowing that for now, this is only a dream.
"I can't sleep at night. All the time I dream of bombs," says 14-year old Hussein, Kamleh's son.
Kamleh explains how after days and days of bombardments, she decided to flee with her four children-a decision that proved to come just in time. "I had to leave for the sake of my children." The she heard the news of the bombing of Qana over a small radio.
"Our house was next to the big hit," she says. Kamleh doesn't speak much about the way she feels, except to say that for her, those who died in Qana, are martyrs.
Young Hussein adds that for him, the death of the children is the worst.
It is only a few weeks since he played football in the streets of Qana, in the discussing football strategies.
"We still play, here in the center," he says.
For the people seeking shelter here, as in the countless other places of refuge, their future is not clear. For now, they sleep on the concrete floors in the school. What remains of their homes, if anything, they simply don't know.
Some women enter into the classroom. Voices grow loud. Emotions start running high. They talk about Qana-their sorrow and pain visible. "We cannot forgive," some say.
"They have tried to kill us too many times," they say.
It is all about waiting out the situation. But eventually, they will return to their homes. That is vital say several people, even if it means sleeping on the rubble that used to be the homes they once loved.
"I want the mothers in Europe and elsewhere to feel our tragedy. We have lost our homes. We have nothing certain to return to. Our friends and neighbors have become martyrs," Kamleh says and then adds: "All we want is to go home. To live in peace."
ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
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Contributions to support humanitarian assistance to civilians in need in Lebanon may be made to Church World Service by credit card online or by callling (800) 297-1516, ext. 222; or by check to:
Church World Service
Lebanon Crisis
Account #6820
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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