Canada is adding another $15 million to its humanitarian aid package for Lebanon after an escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said the new money will help Canadian and international aid groups provide food, water, emergency health care and other assistance in Lebanon, though the exact allocations have not yet been determined.
“This conflict is taking a terrible toll on civilians in Lebanon and beyond,” Hussen told a press conference on Wednesday.
“As of today, Canada has committed $25 million to support humanitarian response to assist the most vulnerable civilians in Lebanon.”
International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says the additional federal money will go towards food, water, emergency health services and protection services for those who need it most in Lebanon.
The $15 million in new funding comes on top of $10 million in aid announced by Hussen at the end of September.
He said $6 million of the previously announced money will be split between the Red Cross and the Humanitarian Coalition, to match up to $3 million each in donations made to their individual Lebanon aid campaigns.
As well, $4 million will be split between the UN Refugee Agency and the World Food Program.
Canada is also sending relief items from its stockpiles, including 5,000 blankets and 1,000 hygiene kits.
Hussen said more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, including two Canadians, and thousands of civilians have been wounded. The conflict has put significant pressure on humanitarian organizations on the ground there, he said.
Food, medicine, shelter materials and emergency health care are needed urgently, said Hussen.
The Humanitarian Coalition urged Canadians to donate in a press release, saying donations sent between Sept. 24 and Nov. 23 will be eligible for matching donations from the government.
The coalition is made up of 12 of Canada’s largest aid organizations.
“Many of our member organizations have been working in Lebanon for decades and are already providing life-saving essentials,” said executive director Richard Morgan in the release.
“But the scale of this emergency is catastrophic. The humanitarian needs are massive.”
The military escalation has led to mass displacement in Lebanon, with many people fleeing their homes without basic necessities, and is also taking a psychological toll, the coalition said.
It added that Lebanon’s 978 shelters are almost full, with many displaced people sleeping outdoors and increasingly at risk as the weather gets colder.
CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Ahmad Araji, a Lebanese Canadian in Beirut waiting for information about government-reserved seats on commercial flights.
Global Affairs Canada says more than 1,150 Canadians, permanent residents and their immediate family members have left Lebanon on flights chartered by the government. It says it also has helped about 250 people from other countries leave Lebanon.
The agency says it’s now getting fewer than 100 new requests a day for information on departure options, and all eligible travellers have been offered departures, have left or can leave in the coming days.
Global Affairs Canada says 205 people left Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday.
As of Oct. 8, there were more than 25,000 Canadians registered in Lebanon, but the government said the true number may be higher because registration is voluntary. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has said there are an estimated 45,000 Canadians in the country.
The federal government has been warning citizens to evacuate Lebanon as fighting in the area intensifies. Lebanese-Canadian Stephani Moukhaiber says she has made the ‘very personal’ decision to stay because leaving is not worth the ‘logistical nightmare’.
On Wednesday, Hussen reiterated calls for Canadians to leave Lebanon.
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marc Miller said right now the focus is on helping Canadian citizens and permanent residents, as well as their spouses in children, to get the documents they need to travel.
“Further, we are prioritizing the processing of certain types of family class permanent resident applications,” said spokesperson Renee Proctor in an emailed statement.
