GENEVA: US aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency UNICEF to suspend or scale back many programs in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country’s east, a UNICEF official said on Friday.
“We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programs,” UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut.
More than double the number of children faced food shortages in the eastern Bekaa and Baalbek regions of the country compared to two years ago, according to a UNICEF report that studied the impact of 14 months of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that began in October 2023.
“The assessment revealed a grim picture of children’s nutrition situation, particularly in the Baalbeck and Bekaa governorates, which remained densely populated when they were repeatedly targeted by air strikes,” said Higgins.
Nearly 80 percent of families were in need of urgent support and 31 percent of households did not have enough drinking water, putting them at risk of disease, the report found.
UNICEF raised alarm about the impact of US aid cuts and a broader decline in global humanitarian funding.
“More than half a million children and their families (in Lebanon) risk losing critical cash support from UN agencies this month. These cuts would strip the most vulnerable of their last lifeline, leaving them unable to afford even the most basic necessities,” Higgins added.
Only 26 percent of UNICEF’s 2025 Lebanon appeal is funded.
A ceasefire ended the conflict in Lebanon in November, which began when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. Some 3,800 people were killed and more than a million people were displaced by Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, while tens of thousands of Israelis were displaced in northern Israel.
President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid in January to carry out a review to ensure all the projects were aligned with his “America First” policy. On Wednesday his administration said it was cutting more than 90 percent of the US Agency for International Development’s aid contracts.
US aid cuts force UNICEF to reduce Lebanon nutrition programs, official says
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US aid cuts force UNICEF to reduce Lebanon nutrition programs, official says
- “We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programs,” UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon said
- “The assessment revealed a grim picture of children’s nutrition situation, particularly in the Baalbeck and Bekaa governorates
Smotrich’s move to cut bank ties risks Palestinian supply crisis
- The waiver had allowed Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority, without the risk of being charged with money laundering and funding extremism
JERUSALEM: An Israeli move to cut off cooperation with Palestinian banks could halt the supply of essential goods such as food and fuel to the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Monetary Authority said on Wednesday.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the cancelation of a waiver on cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks on Tuesday.
This move risks the Palestinian banking system, trade, and overall economy. Israeli banks Hapoalim and Israel Discount Bank work with Palestinian banks.
Some 53 billion shekels ($15.2 billion) were exchanged at Palestinian banks in 2023, official data show.
BACKGROUND
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the cancelation of a waiver on cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks on Tuesday.
Canceling the waiver would require approval by Israel’s security Cabinet. No date for a vote has been set, and it was not clear whether it would pass.
The PMA said it was following developments and warned that such disruption posed a serious threat to Palestinian access to basic goods and services.
It noted it has ongoing coordination with the political leadership and international community to safeguard correspondent banking relationships.
“These efforts are vital to ensuring the continuity of commercial transactions and the payment of essential imports and services, including food, electricity, water, and fuel,” the PMA said.
Smotrich said his decision came against the “delegitimization campaign” by the Palestinian Authority against Israel globally.
The waiver had allowed Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority, without the risk of being charged with money laundering and funding extremism.
Without it, Palestinian banks would be cut off from the Israeli financial system.
The PMA said depositors’ funds within the Palestinian banking sector are secure and that the banking system remains integrated with the global financial network through a broad range of correspondent banks and continues to provide services to individuals and businesses domestically and internationally.
Smotrich, under US pressure, had in late 2024 signed a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks through November 2025.
In the past, Smotrich sought to end the waiver but ultimately signed it due to pressure from the US and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His latest decision came hours after the UK and four other nations imposed sanctions on him and another far-right minister, accusing them of inciting violence in the West Bank.
The sanctions included a freeze on assets and travel bans.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the action by the five countries was “outrageous.”
Egypt backs ‘pressure on Israel’ but says Gaza actions need approval
- Foreign ministry says foreign delegations seeking to visit border area with Gaza must receive prior official approval
CAIRO: Egypt said on Wednesday that it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel” to lift its blockade on Gaza, but added that any foreign delegations seeking to visit the border area must receive prior approval through official channels.
Egypt “asserts the importance of putting pressure on Israel to end the blockade on the (Gaza) Strip,” the foreign ministry said as hundreds of activists in a Gaza-bound convoy head to the Egyptian border on their way to the besieged Palestinian territory, but added “we will not consider any requests or respond to any invitations submitted outside the framework defined by the regulatory guidelines and the mechanisms followed in this regard.”
Israeli strike kills one in Lebanon’s south
- Health ministry says Israeli drone strike hit the town of Beit Lif
BEIRUT: One person was killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on a village in southern Lebanon, the health ministry reported, the latest deadly attack despite a November ceasefire.
“The raid carried out by an enemy Israeli drone on the town of Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, resulted in one martyr and three people injured,” read a statement from the ministry.
The official National News Agency said the strike targeted a house’s courtyard in the town, adding that a missile hit the homeowner’s car.
Israel has regularly bombed its northern neighbor since the November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with militant group Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
The agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle all military infrastructure to its south.
It also required Israel to withdraw all of its troops from Lebanon, but it has kept them in five positions it deems “strategic.”
US prepares to order departure of Baghdad embassy staff
- State Department prepares to order departure of all nonessential personnel from US Embassy in Baghdad, officials tell AP
WASHINGTON: The State Department is preparing to order the departure of all nonessential personnel from the US Embassy in Baghdad due to the potential for regional unrest, two US officials said Wednesday.
The Baghdad embassy has already been on limited staffing, and the order will not affect a large number of personnel, but the department also is authorizing the departure of nonessential personnel and family members from Bahrain and Kuwait.
That gives them an option on whether to leave the country.
The Pentagon is standing by to support a potential evacuation of US personnel from US Embassy Baghdad, another US official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.
Former Lebanese economy minister arrested on corruption charges
- Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after three-hour interrogation
BEIRUT: A former Lebanese Cabinet minister has been arrested and charged after an investigation into alleged financial crimes, judicial and security officials told The Associated Press.
Former Economy Minister Amin Salam was detained after a three-hour interrogation about illegal use of ministry funds and use of suspicious contracts. The three judicial officials and one security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Lebanon has been trying to reform its battered economy, which for decades has been rife with profiteering.
Salam has been charged with forgery, embezzlement, and misuse of public funds. Local media said it was related to alleged extortion of private insurance companies and using funds from a committee that supervises those companies for his own expenses.
Salam did not directly comment. On Monday, however, he shared a video on social media that denied the reports and asserted that his use of those funds was to increase the committee’s efficacy and transparency.
Salam was economy minister for over three years. He was appointed in 2021 at a time when Lebanon’s economy had plummeted and the country was plagued by severe power outages, fuel shortages and stark food inflation.
