Almost a quarter of Lebanon is expected to face acute hunger in the coming months as a result of Israel and Hezbollah's latest war, it was revealed on Tuesday.
A forecast by UN agencies and the Lebanese government said more than 1.2 million people will be in the 'crisis' tier of food insecurity between April and August.
Findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) are regarded as authoritative by the UN. Its experts last year declared a famine in Gaza due to Israel's bombardment and blockade.
In Lebanon, an estimated 874,000 people were already at the 'crisis' level between November and March, when there was a shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. That amounted to 17 per cent of Lebanon, whose population is about five million.
“The fragility we warned about in the previous IPC analysis has unfortunately proven to be true,” said Allison Oman Lawi, a World Food Programme director in Lebanon.
“Hard-won gains have been swiftly reversed. Families who were just managing to cope are now being pushed back into crisis as conflict, displacement and rising costs collide, making food increasingly unaffordable.”
The 'crisis' level is the third on a five-tier scale used by the IPC. It means people are either living with acute malnutrition or taking emergency action to avoid it. The fourth tier is an 'emergency', and the fifth a 'catastrophe' or famine.
The fragility of the situation, with Hezbollah and Israel still trading fire despite a supposed three-week ceasefire extension, means the insecurity will likely continue.
“This confirms continued and deepening fragility in rural and agrifood systems. Compounded shocks are undermining agricultural livelihoods and impacting food security, highlighting the urgent need for emergency agricultural assistance to support farmers and prevent further deterioration, said Nora Ourabah Haddad, the Food and Agriculture Organisation Representative in Lebanon.
“These results underscore the severity of the current situation in Lebanon, where conflict intersects with economic pressures putting national food security under critical risk and juncture.”
Some of Lebanon's most important agricultural areas in the south and the Bekaa Valley have suffered from some of the most intense Israeli attacks. More than a million people have been forced from their homes by Israeli attacks and displacement orders, with much of the south now occupied as an Israeli buffer zone.
The IPC analysis warned that some people are no longer able to meet "basic food needs" consistently, and are increasingly forced to "reduce the quantity and quality of food consumed, skip meals, or resort to harmful coping strategies" such as taking on debt or selling their possessions.
The cash-strapped Lebanese government is limited in the financial support it can provide.
