Caritas Australia has launched its Lebanon Emergency Appeal in response to an economic crisis that the World Bank has identified as one of the worst in 150 years.
Partners in the region now report that increased hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah have resulted in numerous casualties, displacement of civilians, and extensive damage to infrastructure.
The ongoing conflict has displaced more than 98,750 people from southern Lebanon, adding to Lebanon’s status as home to the largest number of refugees per capita in the world.
The total number of casualties in Lebanon since the escalation began in October 2023 has reached 1953, including 481 fatalities.
A recession and record inflation began in Lebanon in 2019 and has since been exacerbated by COVID-19, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the devastating explosion of the Port of Beirut in 2020, and now conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces.
In 2023, food price inflation in Lebanon was among the worst in the world in, sitting at 350 per cent. One in five people now face acute food insecurity, and more than 80 per cent of the population lives in poverty, compared to 42 per cent in 2019.
Caritas Australia’s humanitarian emergencies lead Sally Thomas said: “Economically the situation in Lebanon was already dire before this conflict. We saw after the explosion in the Port of Beirut that the country simply cannot recover from disruption to the flow of resources, with the cost of purchasing essentials having skyrocketed by percentages in the hundreds after that incident.
“That is an incomprehensible increase – Australians spend on average $160 per week on food, so imagine that increasing to $560 in just one year, and that is reflective of what happened in Lebanon in last year.
“Most previously self-sufficient families are now facing a similar level of need to the nation’s sizeable refugee population and this conflict, bringing damage to resources and infrastructure, will only make things worse.”
To support Caritas Australia’s Lebanon Emergency Appeal, visit http://www.caritas.org.au/lebanon
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Increased hostilities compound historic economic crisis in Lebanon (Caritas Australia)
