As part of UNIFIL’s continued efforts to support communities affected by ongoing exchanges of fire in south Lebanon, the mission’s Italian peacekeepers made substantial food donations to internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Tyre last week.
On 13 March, peacekeepers delivered more than 13 tons of packaged food items – in addition to essential medical kits, medicines and hygiene kits – to the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) of the Union of Tyre Municipalities for distribution among IDPs.
Facilities for displaced people managed by the Tyre branch of Disaster Management Unit are currently hosting more than 13,000 IDPs, who were forced to leave numerous towns and villages, especially those close to the Blue Line, following the recent escalation.
UNIFIL’s Sector West Commander Brigadier General Andrea Fraticelli, who also serves as the Italian Contingent Commander, handed over the supplies to the President of the Union of Tyre Municipalities, Hassan Dbouk, and DMU Director Mhana Mortada, at a ceremony held in Tyre.
The humanitarian supplies were purchased using funds from the Italian Ministry of Defence, supplemented by contributions from two Italian charities: the Banco Farmaceutico Foundation and the Rotary Club Vignola Castelfranco Emilia Bazzano.
Since the latest escalation of 2 March, Lebanese authorities estimate that more than half a million people have been displaced from their homes in UNIFIL’s area of operations south of the Litani river.
