More than half of Lebanon population depends on aid: EU official

AFP , Friday 8 May 2026

More than half of Lebanon's population depends on humanitarian aid, a European Union official said on Friday, as Israel continues its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war on the country.

First responders arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Habbouch. AFP

"At present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive," EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib told reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut.

Lahbib said that since the start of the war on March 2 the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million euros in aid and sent six planes carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh expected on Saturday.

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have displaced over 1,3 million since early March, according to authorities.

The UN launched an emergency appeal in March for $308 million in humanitarian aid for Lebanon, but in two months it has raised just $126 million, according to UN agencies.

Lahbib, who said that the ceasefire has opened "a narrow window of hope", called for Hezbollah "to cease its attacks and be disarmed" and said that "Israel must put an end to its bombardments".

"For a ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed -- political courage to address the root causes of this conflict."

Israel and Lebanon are set to hold a third round of talks in Washington next week to end the war, despite Hezbollah's opposition to direct negotiations.

Israel continues to strike Lebanon

Earlier today, an Israeli strike killed four people including two women in the southern Lebanon town of Toura, the health ministry said, as state media and AFP correspondents reported Israel was conducting widespread strikes.

This comes after the Israeli occupation army pummeled southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing three people.

The Israeli bombing on Thursday came hours after Israel assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut on Wednesday evening, in the first such strike on the Lebanese capital since the start of the truce between Tel Aviv and the Lebanese resistance group on 17 April.

Since the start of the Israeli escalation on 2 March, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 2,727, wounded more than 8,438, levelled tens of villages in the south, and destroyed tens of thousands of housing units.