Updated Wednesday 26 July 2006

WFP dispatches the first UN convoy with food and medical supplies to the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, one of the hardest hit areas that is now home to thousands of displaced people.

WFP today dispatched the first UN convoy with food and medical supplies from Beirut to the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, one of the hardest hit areas now home to thousands of displaced people.

“While thousands have fled Tyre, tens of thousands still remain stranded with no fuel for their cars, no money for skyrocketing taxi fares and dwindling supplies of food. They have no assurances that they can safely leave. We have to assist these people before their situation deteriorates even further,? said Amer Daoudi, Emergency Coordinator for the WFP operation in Lebanon.

Tyre, founded by the Phoenicians and one of the oldest cities in the world, is 83 km south of Beirut. While the distance is not great, the widespread destruction of public infrastructure, including roads and bridges, as well as the targeting of commercial trucks, has seriously hampered relief operations. WFP has managed to mobilize a fleet of trucks, plus drivers willing to risk traversing the perilous roads.