Lebanon faces growing food crisis amid conflict, warns WFP

The World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday that Lebanon is sliding into a deepening food security crisis as conflict continues to disrupt livelihoods and access to essential goods.

WFP Lebanon Country Director Allison Oman told reporters in Geneva that the crisis is rapidly evolving beyond displacement.

"What we're witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis," she said, pointing to sharp price increases, with vegetables rising by more than 20% and bread by 17% in just one month.

"This is a very worrying combination, prices are rising, incomes are disrupted, and demand is increasing as displacement continues," Oman added. Some one million people have been displaced by Israel's attacks, or about one-fifth of Lebanon's population.

While markets appear functional at the national level, she warned this masks severe disruptions in conflict-hit areas in the south, where "more than 80% of markets are no longer functioning," with some traders reporting less than a week of food stocks.

Even before the escalation on March 2, she said about 900,000 people were food insecure, a number expected to rise further.

The WFP has reached more than 440,000 conflict-affected people and "distributed the equivalent of 2 million meals to families, caught in the crisis," she said, noting that the agency has been on the ground since the first hours of the escalation.

"Food isn't just assistance, it's stability, it's dignity, and right now, in many cases, it's a lifeline," she said.

Since March 2, the WFP, together with the logistics cluster, has launched around nine to 10 convoys, sending roughly 70 trucks with aid and reaching an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 people.

The Israeli army has intensified attacks across Lebanon since Wednesday, killing at least 303 people and injuring 1,150 others, according to Lebanese Civil Defense.

The expanded Israeli offensive on Lebanon since March 2 has killed 1,888 people and wounded 6,092 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.