Middle East Council of Churches Continues Relief Work in Lebanon

|PIC1|The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, is continuing with its relief work as it warns that four weeks into the conflict, Lebanon continues to bear the brunt of the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

"It was another black day and bloody night for Lebanon, filled with the smoke of fires caused by Israeli attacks from land, sea and air," Guirgis Saleh, MECC’s general secretary said in an update to the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International today.

The MECC reported massive devastation caused by the Israeli offensive, particularly in the area of Chiah in the suburbs of Beirut, where ten people were reported by the council as killed, 30 injured and two buildings completely wiped out.

MECC also reported that the villages of Rmeish and Debel are facing imminent disaster if relief does not reach them soon.

Tyre has also been cut off following the destruction of two vital bridges to the city a few days earlier, the Qasmieh Bridge and the makeshift bridge between Saida and Tyre.

|AD|MECC has been responding to the disaster through its Inter-Church Network for Development and Relief (ICNDR) which is in the process of distributing 500 food and non-food parcels in Saida and Jezzine in the south of the country.

The ICNDR has also partnered with Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) to bring fresh water and sanitation facilities in centres for the displaced.

The two organisations have also completed their assessments of schools currently being used to shelter people displaced by the conflict. The assessments revealed a need for showers and water as well as basic hygiene items.

Another ACT member, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) has also been working to support centres for the thousands of people displaced by the conflict, as well as in schools, by distributing food and hygiene parcels.

IOCC has already supported 695 families while the group is aiming to deliver the rest of the parcels before the end of the week to meet its goal of assisting 892 families.