LEBANON: Egeland calls for humanitarian truce to rescue children and infirm

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

NEW YORK, 28 Jul 2006 (IRIN) - Top United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Jan Egeland proposed a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire to the UN Security Council on Friday in an effort to rescue children and infirm trapped by the ongoing violence between the Hizbollah militia and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in southern Lebanon.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with the war where there are more dead children than armed men,” Egeland told reporters after the closed-door briefing. “It has to stop.”

The Lebanese death toll has risen in the two weeks of fighting and is now estimated to be between 400 and 600, with children comprising one-third of all casualties, according to Egeland.

The 72-hour humanitarian truce would be to rescue the sick, the elderly, children, and those in southern Lebanon who are caught in the crossfire and unable to get out of the way due to lack of safety or lack of access because of bombed bridges and roads. The truce would also enable aid workers to bring in supplies for hospitals and bring out those who wanted to leave.

“This should be done in the spirit that the children have nothing to do with this conflict. The children should be helped, should be assisted, and the firing should stop, at least until that is solved,” said Egeland.

The truce would be a “first step” in the political process towards a ceasefire, according to Egeland. After presenting his idea to the Council, he noted that there was sympathy for the plan among members, but no formal decision was made. Egeland plans to appeal to the parties to agree on the humanitarian truce.

Raising emergency funds for Lebanon is also a priority, he said, with only US $15 million pledged out of the US $150 million needed. The UN said today that US $5 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) would be added to the total.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), resources and access to water is very limited, and aid workers in the area do not have adequate means to help the southern Lebanese population. The ICRC continues to work in the area with the Lebanese Red Cross, but intense fighting has caused the organization to turn some of its convoys back.

In other parts of Lebanon, the humanitarian corridor is already up and running, said Egeland, noting the successful 10-truck UN convoy delivery from Beirut to Saida and inland to Jezzine. He added, however, that he was concerned about some reports of convoys run by NGOs that had been attacked.

“We will be able to provide if we have enough security guarantees. If the corridor system works, we will be able to provide some 10 to 12,000 tons of food into Lebanon and into the civilian population in the course of the next month alone. But it is not enough. It is only the cessation of hostilities that will end the suffering of the civilian population,” said Egeland.

[ENDS]