A 60-day ceasefire agreement was reached on Wednesday, November 29th. The truce is fragile, as both sides – Israel and Hezbollah – have already accused the other of breaking the agreement mere days later.
Thousands of war-displaced Lebanese families are returning home to find chaos and destruction. In the South of Lebanon, 65 villages have been reduced to rubble. More than 100,000 housing structures have been destroyed. There have been billions in damages. Numbers are fluid as the triage has only just begun.
WAM’s team in Lebanon is currently assessing the situation and planning how we can support returning families through continued food supplementation and structure rehabilitation. WAM will deploy teams in three adopted villages to assist with securing and repairing homes.
WAM is seeking $75,000 in funding for Lebanon recovery projects, such as replacing shattered glass and repairing doors, windows, and shutters. Our goal is to ensure 200 families have secure homes that will protect them from the elements during this cold and wet winter season. If you feel so moved, please make your contributions here: HELP LEBANON RECOVER.
IMPACT OF WAR
Displacement has affected 1.5 million Lebanese people and 70% of the displaced are women and children. Shelters have reached capacity and resources are stretched thin.
The education sector is reporting 996 closed schools – many being used as shelters – and 1.5 million students are impacted by the disruption of education.
Attrition in the healthcare sector is especially concerning, as hundreds of healthcare workers have been injured or killed and healthcare infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed throughout the country. There is a shortage of medicine as medicine imports have been cut in half due to a lack of USD.
Economically, the Lebanese people are facing $20 billion in war damages and rising inflation. The price of bread is up 40% since June. Damages to 5,000 acres of agricultural land have resulted in 75% of farmers declaring a total loss for 2024-2025 growing seasons.
IMPACT OF WAM
WAM has responded to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Lebanon through feeding projects in the south of Lebanon and the Beirut area.
Since September, WAM has prepared 18,970 hot meals and distributed 2,500 food parcels. We have distributed 2,500 hygiene kits and provided 500 families with heating oil for the winter.
Fresh produce from our hydroponic gardens has fed 2,400 families and additional capacity is being added to grow more food for more hungry people.
Our medical project distributed $6 million worth of donated medicines to the Lebanese people in October and another $16 million in donated medicines was distributed in November.
More than 50,000 Lebanese civilians benefitted from the medicine distributions.
WAM is deploying teams to three villages to help 200 families secure and repair their damaged homes.
