ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), a nonprofit humanitarian and advocacy organization, is warning the world community that Lebanon is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in over 30 years as Israel steps up its invasion.
Residents across the country are suffering as displacement and casualties mount rapidly, including a 12-year-old boy sponsored by Islamic Relief who has been severely wounded in an airstrike. More than 1,800 people have now been killed and over 8,500 wounded.
Local authorities say more than 1 million people – 1 in 6 of the entire population – are now uprooted from their homes. Islamic Relief aid workers report increasingly desperate conditions in the overcrowded communal shelters, some of which are having to turn desperate families away as there is no space left.
Today, more civilians are being forced to leave their homes, which increases the chances of people suffering from diseases and hunger. Islamic Relief USA urges the protection of civilians who cannot or choose not to leave their homes.
International governments must step up all diplomatic pressure to demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to violations of international law across the whole region.
Civilians including children are bearing the brunt of this escalation. Islamic Relief is devastated to report that a young boy and his mother who are part of Islamic Relief’s orphan sponsorship program in Lebanon have been badly injured during a recent airstrike.
Marwan, a 12-year-old boy, was at home preparing for breakfast with his mother and older sister when a bomb tore through their apartment in southern Lebanon. Marwan and his mother were severely injured and rushed to hospital, many of which are now completely overwhelmed. Marwan is now recovering from surgery to remove shrapnel from his abdomen and thigh, while his mother suffered multiple fractures and remains in intensive care after surgery on her colon and liver. Thankfully, Marwan’s sister was not physically hurt but is psychologically shaken.
Marwan has been part of our sponsorship program for several years. He has only one functioning kidney and has suffered kidney failure and recurrent blood and urine infections since birth. An Islamic Relief staff member
describes him as a “kind and thoughtful young boy whose days are filled with treatments and pain rather than laugher and play like other children”. His father died when he was young and the family depends on the sponsorship money to buy daily goods and pay for Marwan’s regular doctor visits and medication, especially as Lebanon’s economic crisis has worsened over the past few years. Our prayers are with the family at this terrible time, and we hope for a swift recovery.
Islamic Relief staff carrying out daily aid distributions in dozens of shelters for displaced people describe awful conditions with families sleeping in the open air and hundreds of people sharing a single toilet.
Since the crisis escalated, Islamic Relief USA has helped distribute more than 6,434 ready-to-eat food packs, 500 packs of meat, 2,273 hygiene kits, 1,035 blankets, 1,035 mattresses and 16,459 medical items, in Mount Lebanon, Chouf, Sida, Nabatieh, Tyre, Bekaa and Baalbek.
MEDIA CONTACT
Syed M. Hassan
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Islamic Relief USA, based in Alexandria, VA, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization. Its mission is to provide relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of gender, race, or religion, and works to empower individuals in their communities and give them a voice in the world. Its programs benefit millions of people each year in more than 40 countries around the world, including in the United States.
Islamic Relief USA is on the U.S. government’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) charity list, and it is also a signatory to the code of conduct of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.