A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj El Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on Jan. 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
The United Nations joined the Lebanese government on Tuesday to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.
That appeal raised approximately $250 million, according to the U.N.
Following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, Israel in September stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon.
After two months of war, in which Hezbollah's influential chief Hassan Nasrallah and multiple other leaders were killed, a cease-fire deal was reached that went into effect in late November.
"While the cessation of hostilities offers hope, over 125,000 people remain displaced, and hundreds of thousands more face immense challenges rebuilding their lives," Imran Riza, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, said in a statement Tuesday.
The additional funding "is urgently required to sustain life-saving efforts and prevent further deterioration of an already dire situation," he added.
The appeal is primarily aimed to assist an estimated one million Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict, funding three months of emergency efforts through March 2025.
Since the cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon began on Nov. 27, more than 800,000 displaced people in Lebanon have been able to return home, according to U.N. figures.
