BEIRUT: The World Health Organization (WHO) delivered 32 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to Lebanon on Monday amid growing fears of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah.
The aid, which will equip Lebanon’s most under-resourced hospitals, includes at least 1,000 trauma kits to treat people injured in the war. “The goal is to get these supplies and medicines to the hospitals… especially the most exposed areas, so that they can be prepared to deal with any emergency,” Health Minister Firas Abyad said.
The departure hall at Beirut airport was packed with families leaving the country on Monday after countries including Saudi Arabia, France, Britain, Italy and Turkey urged their citizens to leave. “It’s so sad, oh my God, it’s so sad. You get out of a crisis and you go into another one,” said Sherine Malla, who lives in Italy and decided to return home early after visiting her mother in Lebanon.
Germany is preparing to evacuate its citizens to safety, and has arranged for a plane to fly from Beirut to Cyprus. The US has urged Americans in Lebanon to “book every ticket possible”, the UN has asked its staff’s families to leave, and the Swedish embassy has moved its operations to Cyprus.
Tensions have been rising since Israel assassinated senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last week and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran hours later. Iran said on Monday that “no one has the right to question Iran’s legitimate right to punish the Zionist regime.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was “determined to confront Iran on all fronts.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah and Israel continued to engage in almost daily fighting. Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese border towns of Mais al-Jabal and Houla killed four people, and Hezbollah attacked military targets in northern Israel with explosive drones.
