00:00The United Nations launched a $308 million flash appeal on Friday to help Lebanon cope with the fallout of a
00:08war that has forced more than a seventh of its population from their homes.
00:12More than 800,000 people have been displaced as Israel orders them to leave ever larger swaths of Lebanon.
00:18Aid organizations say funding constraints have already forced them to ration supplies and that they'll need much more money.
00:25Here's Carl Skow, the World Food Program's Deputy Executive Director.
00:29So we're only targeting those who are really, you know, on the verge of starvation or in starvation.
00:36There isn't any more margin. And so with needs going up, resources will have to come up and they can
00:41certainly not drop.
00:43Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah last week after the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group opened fire on it March
00:502nd,
00:51saying it was avenging the killing of Iran's supreme leader.
00:54Hezbollah has kept up daily rocket and drone attacks, while Israel has expanded its ground operations and airstrikes.
01:02Nearly 700 people have been killed.
01:04Lebanon was pummeled by a 2019 economic collapse, the 2020 Beirut port explosion and the 2024 war between Hezbollah and
01:13Israel.
01:13Now humanitarian organizations say global crises have restricted their response to the latest war.
01:20The UN's refugee agency said in September it had only received 25 percent of the resources required for Lebanon last
01:27year,
01:28forcing it to slash cash assistance programs.
01:31Skow said the spike in global energy prices triggered by the Iran war could further constrain donors.
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