SIXTY THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EVACUATED FROM LEBANON TO CYPRUS SO FAR, DPA QUOTED THE UN'S OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA) AS SAYING FRIDAY. MORE THAN 300 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN LEBANON, 30 PER CENT OF THEM CHILDREN, AND MORE THAN 860 WOUNDED AS THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION GROWS WORSE. TWENTY-NINE ISRAELIS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE NORTH OF ISRAEL AND AT LEAST 200 WOUNDED BY ROCKETS FIRED BY THE MILITANT LEBANESE HEZBOLLAH MOVEMENT. ISRAEL HAS BEEN BOMBARDING LEBANON SINCE LAST WEEK FOLLOWING THE CAPTURE OF TWO OF ITS SOLDIERS BY HEZBOLLAH. MEANWHILE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE NEEDING HELP TO FLEE THE VIOLENCE IN LEBANON CONTINUES TO GROW, SAID THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) AS IT LAUNCHED AN URGENT APPEAL FOR FUNDS. IN ADDITION TO THE ESTIMATED 500,000 INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE IN LEBANON, MORE AND MORE GOVERNMENTS ARE TURNING TO THE IOM FOR ASSISTANCE. SRI LANKA, ETHIOPIA, GHANA AND THE PHILIPPINES HAVE REQUESTED HELP FOR AT LEAST 10,000 OF THEIR NATIONALS ALONG WITH BANGLADESH, IRAQ, MOLDOVA, RUSSIA AND VIETNAM. THE IOM SAID IT NEEDS 12 MILLION DOLLARS TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE STRANDED, SOME OF THEM WORKERS WITHOUT PAPERS WHO HAVE BEEN ABANDONED BY THEIR EMPLOYERS. THE UN AGENCIES APPEALED AGAIN FOR ACCESS TO THE POPULATION OF LEBANON AS THEY STILL FACE HUGE DIFFICULTIES IN REACHING THOSE IN NEED. "ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS. REACHING THE REACHABLE AND FINDING WAYS OF REACHING THE UNREACHABLE, THAT IS OUR MAJOR CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW," SAID WIVINA BELMONTE OF UNICEF. "A GHOST COUNTRY AND A GHOST TOWN" WAS HOW A MEMBER OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME TEAM DESCRIBED LEBANON AND BEIRUT AS THEY REACHED THE CONFLICT ZONE FROM SYRIA TO ASSESS URGENT NEEDS. THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENT HAS REQUESTED EMERGENCY SUPPLIES OF FOOD, BUT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS SAFETY. A HUMANITARIAN CORRIDOR HAS TO BE OPENED AS A MATTER OF URGENCY, SAID MATTHIAS BURCHARD OF THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AGENCY AND WORKS AGENCY, UNRWA. MOVING TRUCKS WAS HAZARDOUS. "THE ROADS BETWEEN LEBANON AND SYRIA ARE BEING INCREASINGLY TARGETED, SO WE ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT IS THE PRINCIPAL SUPPLY ROUTE BY ROAD FROM DAMASCUS," ADDED BURCHARD. ONE PROBLEM IS THAT MOST STOCKS OF FOOD HELD IN BEIRUT OR IN PORTS IN THE SOUTH ARE IN AREAS NOW UNDER SIEGE BY THE ISRAELIS.
