As the situation in the Middle East has escalated, over 400,000 people have been internally displaced. PDA is responding as a member of Action by Churches Together International.

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), a member of ACT and partner of PDA, is taking the lead in the response. Funds have been sent from the ACT Rapid Response fund to assist the affected population.

MECC has been assisting displaced families in the Mount Lebanon and Beirut areas through its Inter-church Network for Development and Relief in Lebanon (ICNDR) and with the support from local partner organizations. However, MECC expressed concern about its ability to offer assistance to people in the south, due to the ongoing shelling of the area, air raids and the complete destruction of roads.

The general secretary of MECC, Guirgis Saleh, writes in an update that field visits by ICNDR staff and volunteers revealed the extent of the needs for immediate assistance. In the north, which includes Beqaa, Beirut and Mount Lebanon, assistance will be possible. In Tripoli, Akkar and Batroun, assessment teams have identified such items as mattresses, sheets, diapers and medication for chronic diseases as those most needed by people at the moment.

In Beshwet, the ICNDR center for people with mental disabilities opened its doors to 75 displaced persons, most of whom were women and children who had been relying on friends and neighbors for food.

"It should be noted that the Lebanese population living in the proximity of centers for the displaced is expressing solidarity and providing support to the displaced families, offering hot meals, clothes, blankets, sheets and other basic items," writes Mr. Saleh.

In Beirut, ICNDR staff are working with the municipality to secure water for one of the referral centers, a public garden which has no facilities to access water and where hundreds of families have sought shelter.