Number of Mideast Refugees Surge
An estimated 500,000 persons are now displaced in the Middle East.
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David Darg, assistant director of international programs, is on the ground in Lebanon coordinating OBI's relief efforts.
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BEIRUT, Lebanon - While the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon may have ended the conflict, the needs of a growing number of refugees are still on the rise.
In Southern Beirut, an estimated 50 percent of refugees will not be able to return home because it either no longer exists or it has been rendered uninhabitable by a nearby bomb blast, reported David Darg, OBI's assistant director of international programs.
Darg, who has been coordinating Operation Blessing's relief efforts in the Mideast confirmed that following the cease-fire, an estimated 500,000 persons are now displaced (Watch video).
To help those in the hardest-hit villages, OBI helped secure additional food from the World Food Program (WFP) and partnered with the German organization Humedica, to distribute over 93 tons of food to 12,200 displaced persons.
An estimated 50 percent of refugees will not be able to return to their homes.
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Since the start of the conflict, Operation Blessing emergency relief teams and local organizations have been going door-to-door, distributing food, hygiene packs, emergency aid and medical supplies to several thousand each day.
Prior to the cease fire, OBI and Humedica sent a response team of doctors and medical personnel to treat more than 3,500 refugees huddled in schools, packing an average of 20 to a classroom, as Ktyusha rockets fell throughout Israel and Lebanon.
And now that the cease fire is in place, Beirut government officials have asked OBI and Humedica to continue providing health care and distribution of food to the thousands who have evacuated the schools yet remain displaced.
"Operation Blessing will be working on both sides of the border for as long as we can," said OBI President Bill Horan.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Operation Blessing is on the frontlines, bringing humanitarian relief to refugees who are in need of food, water and basic aid.
Help OBI ease the suffering by making a secure, online donation today toward our efforts in the Middle East.
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