People mourn around the bodies of victims killed earlier this week by Israeli airstrikes in Abbasiyeh, during their funeral in Tyre. AFP
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said the entire food system in Lebanon was reeling from the Israeli war, with the occupation forces launching the heaviest strikes on the country this week.
Israel on Wednesday alone killed at least 300 people, including 33 children and wounded more than 1,150 Lebanese in less than 24 hours, sparking international outrage and jeopardising a fragile two-week US-Iran ceasefire.
More than a million people have been displaced in Lebanon by the war, and Israel has launched a ground invasion in the south.
"What we're witnessing is not just a displacement crisis: it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis," said Allison Oman, the WFP's country director in Lebanon.
"We're already seeing clear signs of rising food prices across Lebanon. In just one month, the price of vegetables has surged by more than 20 percent, bread prices have increased by 17 percent.
"For families who are already struggling, this is deeply concerning."
Before March 2, around 900,000 people in Lebanon were facing food insecurity and WFP's latest analysis, expected next week, indicates that the number is set to rise, Oman said.
Speaking from Beirut, she described a worrying spiral of rising prices, increasing demand and disrupted incomes.
"There are supply chain disruptions and the whole food system has taken a blow," Oman told a press briefing in Geneva.
Farmers in southern Lebanon have not been able to work their fields, while rises in global fuel prices and difficulties accessing fertiliser are also having an impact.
Oman said 10 WFP convoys had gone out to reach populations in need in Lebanon since March 2, reaching 40,000 to 60,000 people, but several others had not been able to go because of security concerns.
Meanwhile, the UNICEF warned on Friday that the intensifying hostilities in Lebanon continue to have devastating and inhumane impacts on children.
The agency said that Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed 33 children and injured 153 others. It added that the total number of children killed or wounded has reached around 600 since the renewed war on March 2.
UNICEF stressed that children are being pulled from under the rubble, while others remain missing or separated from their families.
The statement further noted that more than one million people have been displaced across Lebanon, including an estimated 390,000 children, many of them displaced multiple times.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
Short link: