UNICEF sends urgent aid to Beirut

A Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJF) plane left Amman at noon Monday, carrying a shipment of UNICEF emergency supplies to Lebanese capital Beirut.

This airlift, the second of its kind for UNICEF, included 350 family water kits and 200,000 doses of Vitamin A, UNICEF said in a press release.

It noted that Vitamin A, a micronutrient supplement intended to protect children from infectious diseases, would be given to all children from 9 months to 5 years of age in 144 centers hosting displaced people in the Beirut area.

UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Thomas McDermott expressed his gratitude to Jordanian King Abdullah II for the timely and effective support the Kingdom had provided "at this crucial moment to the people and especially the children of Lebanon".

The RJF had carried the first UNICEF consignment of essential items to Beirut last Friday, providing affected communities with food, water, hygiene and medical supplies.

UNICEF has appealed for 25 million U.S. dollars to support children caught in the ongoing Israeli offensive against Lebanon which started on July 12 in retaliation for abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

Source: Xinhua