GENEVA, April 10 (Reuters) - Lebanon is facing a food security crisis due to Israel’s offensive against militant group Hezbollah, which has disrupted supplies of goods and pushed up prices, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday.
A fragile two-day-old ceasefire has halted the campaign of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, but it has not so far calmed the situation in Lebanon, where Israel began pounding the country, in particular the south, on March 2 after Hezbollah fired on it in support of its patron Iran.
“What we’re witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis,” said World Food Programme country director Allison Oman, speaking via video link from Beirut.
She warned that food was becoming increasingly unaffordable due to rising prices and demand among displaced families.
The Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Trade said in a statement that Lebanon’s food stocks on a national level are sufficient for three to four months, and supply chains and import-export operations are functioning normally at ports and land crossings.
