UK sends £10m to support Lebanon’s most vulnerable as more flights booked for Britons to leave | Politics News
The British government is providing £10m to Lebanon to support those who have been displaced and impacted by the current conflict in the Middle East.
The humanitarian aid, announced on Friday, will go towards supporting the most vulnerable communities in Lebanon to meet their basic needs.
It will also help provide education and child protection services to more than 5,000 of the most vulnerable and marginalised children who cannot be in school.
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Some of the money will go towards supporting the Lebanese government to develop more inclusive, sustainable and accountable social protection systems, the Foreign Office said.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks, according to authorities in the country.
Nearly 2,000 are reported to have been killed over the past year – most in the past two weeks as Israel retaliates against Hezbollah attacks.
A medical aid shipment from the WHO and UN refugee agency arrived in Beirut on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Development minister Anneliese Dodds said the funding will help to “address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, providing relief for people displaced by the continuing violence”.
She added: “This lifesaving aid is vital, but not a long-term solution. The only way to truly address the growing humanitarian crisis is an immediate ceasefire adhered to by both sides.
“We continue to urge British nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately.”
The UK government has chartered two flights so far to bring British nationals to the UK after Sir Keir Starmer first told Britons in Lebanon to “leave immediately” on 25 September.
On Wednesday, more than 150 British nationals and dependents touched down in Birmingham, while another flight landed on Thursday as concerns mount over how long the capital’s airport can remain open.
The Foreign Office said a “limited number” of additional flights had been chartered, while Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines also continues to operate from Beirut.
About 700 UK troops and Foreign Office and Home Office staff, including Border Force officers, have been deployed to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is needed.
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Smoke and flames rise over Beirut’s southern suburbs after a strike by Israeli forces on 3 October. Pic: Reuters
Airstrikes near Beirut airport have raised concerns it may not be able to remain open for much longer
Overnight, Israel carried out airstrikes on Beirut again, with some hitting close to the capital’s international airport, which sits on the border of the Dahieh suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli military on Friday ordered more than 30 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately, following the same order for several other areas over the past few days.
At least nine people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a block of flats in Beirut overnight into Thursday, including seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian emergency workers.
The World Health Organisation reported 28 health workers were killed in the past day in Lebanon.
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Sayyed Abdullah, head of Civil Defence in south Lebanon, told Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford, in Lebanon, the Israelis are targeting their ambulance crews.
“We are definitely coming under specific attack,” he said.
“We have had 40 ambulances which have been completely destroyed,” he said, adding: “On top of that 24 rescuing stations have been hit – just in this area.
“They were all targeted directly and I’m just speaking about our organisation.”
But they vowed to carry on their vital work and not be intimidated into leaving.
The Israeli Defence Forces media office did not reply to requests for a comment on the accusations.