08/11/2006

Contacts: Sarah Martin and Kristele Younes
ri@refugeesinternational.org or 202.828.0110

As the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah enters its fourth week, humanitarian agencies are finding that their access to vulnerable populations, both in the South of Lebanon and throughout the country, is decreasing. More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the violence. While about 500,000 of them live in Beirut or its surrounding suburbs, many civilians are still trapped in the south of the country. The ongoing bombing campaigns, launched to protect Israel from the threat posed by Hezbollah, have destroyed the bridges and highways that link Beirut and other cities to the rural areas throughout the country. As the violence continues on both sides, with Israel expanding its ground invasions and Hezbollah firing rockets into Northern Israel, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. The need for an immediate ceasefire is more urgent than ever.

The most desperate situation is in the southern part of the country, south of the Litani River including the city of Tyre and its surroundings. There are estimates that approximately 100,000 people are trapped in the area between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Litani, unwilling or unable to evacuate or to reach safe shelter. An international humanitarian agency operating in the south confirmed this saying, “They say that these villages are abandoned or empty but when we enter them, people slowly start to emerge. Many of the elderly refuse to leave – preferring to die in their own homes. The very poor and the handicapped have also been unable to leave so they are still there.”

While the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) drop leaflets urging the civilians to flee the bombing, it is virtually impossible for them to escape. Since the last bridge over the Litani River was bombed on August 7, humanitarian agencies have been unable to reach this area by road and cannot provide the displaced and host communities with urgently needed food, water, and medicines. It’s impossible for humanitarian convoys to reach southern villages by road. These areas are completely isolated. “It’s getting much worse. We cannot move resources or personnel to where they need to go,” said one agency that operates in the South, “It was not easy at the beginning, but now it is much worse.” The IDF has still not responded to the UN proposal to build a temporary bridge to connect Tyre to Sidon and Beirut in the north, so any assistance must be transported by hand over the river.

While the devastation of the infrastructure has isolated the south of the country, there are also other obstacles to humanitarian access. Humanitarian convoys arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which coordinates aid movements with the IDF, have seldom received the green light to go ahead. Even when humanitarian convoys are approved, clearance doesn’t always mean safety. For example, on August 3, the World Food Program (WFP) received permission to send a humanitarian convoy north of Beirut to the border with Syria. WFP had requested and received consent for this highway from 6am until 6pm. The convoy was delayed for two hours; when WFP called to check again it was told not to move. The highway and its bridges were destroyed and five people were killed.

In separate incidents, an international NGO reported that two of its convoys had almost been hit, and the ICRC said that civilian vehicles traveling in front of its convoys were targeted and destroyed. Due to the destruction of some unescorted convoys of civilians by air strikes, the ICRC has had people trying to evacuate by ‘tagging along’ behind their convoys to try to guarantee some safety. Further endangering the general civilian population, are the indications that Hezbollah, according to Human Rights Watch, “has stored weapons in or near civilian homes and that fighters placed rocket launchers within populated areas or near U.N. observers.” Refugees International opposes the use of civilians as shields and urges both Israel and Hezbollah to stop targeting civilians and allow humanitarian agencies to aid the vulnerable immediately.

The continuing attacks are strangling what little humanitarian access is granted. The government of Lebanon and the United Nations have negotiated successfully for two tankers to deliver much needed fuel to the port in Beirut. However, the owners of these commercial tankers are afraid to move forward, despite the ‘green light’ given by the IDF. They have asked for other countries to guarantee their insurance should they be targeted or another country, such as the United States, to provide a military escort for the tankers to guarantee their safety. On August 8, the Israeli military dropped pamphlets in the south, warning civilians not to move in vehicles, warning that they would attack any vehicle moving south of the Litani River. While the UN was told that the warning did not apply to their convoys, they are unwilling to take the chance of risking the lives of their drivers and have stopped all movements. Nevertheless, Medecins Sans Frontieres, is defying the ban. “To forbid all forms of movement, without distinction, will lead to even more civilian deaths and suffering,” MSF explains in a press release.

While the IDF says that it is trying to minimize attacks on innocent civilians by leafleting areas to warn them to move, increasing attacks outside the south of the country have eroded many of the ‘safe havens’. Many displaced people fled to areas considered to be ‘safe’ – areas that are either predominantly Christian (and therefore not affiliated with Hezbollah) or areas that have no military value. On August 7, Refugees International interviewed people living in the parking garage of a supermarket in Chiyeh, a suburb in Beirut. These 800 people, some from the south and others from the Dahiyeh suburb that has been repeatedly bombed, had been in this shelter for approximately three weeks. While there were some problems with sanitation, they were receiving food and other supplies. “We are being treated well here. We feel safe here but want to go home, even if there are no houses,” said one young shopkeeper. About two hours after we left, a missile hit and destroyed a residential building about 100 meters from the supermarket. The organization that was providing aid to this garage told RI that the displaced were terrified and many are now seeking another shelter.

As the displaced people living in Beirut move from location to location to seek safety, it becomes harder for humanitarian agencies to find them and insure that everyone is receiving assistance. Particularly at risk are the most vulnerable: the elderly, sick, and handicapped. Refugees International interviewed a handicapped man and his wife who had stayed in a shelter for two days near their destroyed home in Dahiyeh before moving to the parking garage. The man was confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, and his family was scattered in many different shelters around town. He and his wife were dependent on their assistance to take care of him. As more and more people are displaced and more areas become insecure, it becomes increasingly difficult to find places to put the quarter of the population of Lebanon that is now displaced. People are living in schools, parks, mosques, churches, but mostly with extended families and other hosts who cram them into their own homes, sharing what little resources they have. As the government of Lebanon and the United Nations struggle to organize a response, many private organizations, political parties, religious groups, and private citizens have been providing assistance. However, with no centralized registration process, there is a good chance that vulnerable individuals will fall through the cracks.

Leafleting, text messages, and voicemails by the IDF warning people to flee continue to arrive. On August 10, people in downtown Beirut received warnings despite media reports that the ground offensive was being postponed. Where will people go in order to find safety? The schools and public centers that are already hosting displaced communities are filled to capacity and humanitarian conditions are deteriorating as the conflict and the blockade continue.

Therefore, Refugees International recommends that:

• The United Nations Security Council immediately pass the resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities between the warring parties and both parties be held accountable for adhering to the various provisions of the resolution so humanitarian actors can move into the south and access vulnerable groups.
• Both Israel and Hezbollah respect international humanitarian law and uphold the Geneva Convention designed to prevent targeting civilians. Pre-attack warnings don’t make it permissible to attack civilian areas.
• The government of Israel grant permission for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to build a temporary bridge connecting Tyre to Sidon.
• Safe land, sea and air corridors be established where assistance can be moved on a regular and reliable basis.
• The United States provide a military escort for the fuel tankers to dock in Beirut.