JULY 28, 2006 - 2000 Local Time (GMT+0200)
Humanitarian Assistance
The United States will contribute $30 million in response to international appeals for humanitarian aid for Lebanonfrom the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. More than $11.7 million has been provided so far.
To date, the U.S. Government has provided approximately $8 million to support the U.N. Flash Appeal for Lebanon and an additional $3.4 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The United States Government will program additional assistance to other relief agencies based on upcoming humanitarian assessments.
USAID is moving an additional seven emergency health kits in addition to the three already sent to Lebanon, 1,000 tarps and 20,000 blankets from Cyprus to Lebanon. The supplies will be distributed to NGOs working in the area.
Our Disaster Assistance Response Team continues to coordinate with the U.S. military to arrange transport of the additional health kits from Cyprus to Beirut. USAID is currently identifying recipients for the additional relief supplies. According to the DART Team, two boxes of medicines from the emergency health kits were dispatched to Sur (Tyre) today for assistance in southern Lebanon.
The U.N. has 100 trucks contracted or en route to deliver aid within Lebanon. We understand the first U.N. convoy left from Beirut for the south yesterday and additional convoys are scheduled to leave daily.
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Program (WFP) aims to begin convoys directly from Arida, Syria, beginning next week.
More on U.S. Aid to Lebanon
JULY 28, 2006 - 2000 Local Time (GMT+0200)
Assisted Departures
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Children at Paphos Airport waiting to travel
to the U.S. |
The United States is using all available means to ensure safe and orderly passage of American citizens out of Lebanon to Cyprus and Turkey, including U.S. military ships, chartered commercial ships and U.S. military helicopters. From Cyprus and Turkey, the U.S. Government is transporting American citizens to the United States via commercial charter and military aircraft.
As of 1300 EDT July 28, approximately 14,647 American citizens have been transported out of Lebanon by the United States since Sunday, July 16. Today an unscheduled ship transported approximately 300 Americans out of Lebanon, while yesterday 2 Americans departed Lebanon via helicopter and 472 via ship.
Approximately 9,726 American citizens have arrived safely in the United States via U.S. government chartered flights.
- Delta Airlines has shown private sector leadership by transporting U.S. citizens from Larnaca, Cyprus to Atlanta, Georgia.
- U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) has been supporting the Department of State airlift efforts by arranging commercial charter aircraft and military aircraft.
At this point, we believe that American citizens have departed who wished to do so. Embassy Beirut is looking into all reports of a small number of remaining American citizens who may still need assistance with departure, and we will continue to have the capability to transport Americans out of Beirut.
The Embassy will continue to work with non-governmental organizations, Lebanese Internal Security Forces, the Israeli Defense Forces, UN personnel and the governments of other nations to assist Americans in departing Lebanon safely.
Embassy Beirut continues urging American citizens to contact the embassy if they wish to leave. We are aware that there is still an undetermined number of Americans at locations in southern Lebanon. We remain concerned about the welfare of all American citizens in Lebanon and will continue to facilitate their departure and return to the United States.
The Embassy is able to advise Americans in southern Lebanon on a case-by-case basis, depending upon their specific location and circumstances, such as access to telephones.
American citizens in southern Lebanon who require U.S. government assistance in departing Lebanon should seek to initiate and remain in contact with the U.S. Embassy for further guidance. Family members in the United States may contact the Department of State if they have information on their specific location.
We urge anyone with information on American citizens remaining in southern Lebanon to contact Embassy Beirut or the Task Force in Washington, DC. We continue to advise Americans in Lebanon to monitor the local radio and the U.S. Embassy Beirut website for the latest on assistance in departing Lebanon.
In this extraordinary case, the State Department has waived the requirement for American citizens departing Lebanon to reimburse the U.S. Government for travel costs.
Photo gallery: Americans departing Cyprus, July 21-29, 2006
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