UN doubles Lebanon aid appeal to nearly 640 mln dollars amid Israeli strikes

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday doubled its aid appeal for Lebanon to nearly 6.4 million U.S. dollars to address the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by the prolonged regional conflict.

In March this year, the United Nations appealed for 308 million U.S. dollars to support the Lebanese government-led humanitarian response, but only 185 million U.S. dollars had been raised by the end of May. The OCHA said that in addition to achieving the initial fundraising target of 308 million U.S. dollars, an additional 331 million U.S. dollars is needed, to cover approximately 1.4 million people in the war-torn country.

"Today, we call for an additional 331.5 million dollars to sustain lifesaving efforts for 1.4 million people, bringing our overall ask for the flash appeal through August of this year to 639.9 million," said Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, at a press conference on Friday.

The agency said in its aid appeal that the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is severe and deteriorating, as the ongoing conflict has displaced nearly 1 million people, and health workers and emergency responders are "facing death and injury on a horrific scale." The conflict has also severely impacted Lebanon's healthcare and education systems, with 62 hospitals and medical facilities damaged or closed, and approximately 450 schools being used as temporary shelters for displaced persons, disrupting normal teaching activities, according to the OCHA.

"In the communities I have visited in recent weeks, I was shocked by the devastation of infrastructure and essential services. Hospitals and clinics hit by airstrikes, government buildings destroyed, agricultural land scorched, water stations demolished and schools turned to displacement sites," said Riza.

After the U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb 28, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as Iran's main regional ally, began launching rockets into northern Israel on March 2. Israel, in turn, launched fierce airstrikes against southern and eastern Lebanon and the capital Beirut, and launched a ground military operation in southern Lebanon.

UN doubles Lebanon aid appeal to nearly 640 mln dollars amid Israeli strikes

The World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Friday that global goods trade remained resilient in the first half of 2026 despite headwinds from the ongoing Middle East conflict, partly thanks to rising artificial intelligence (AI)-related demand.

The WTO's latest Goods Trade Barometer, a composite leading indicator for global merchandise trade, stood at 101.7, down slightly from 102.3 in January. This suggests a possible slowdown in global merchandise trade, the WTO said.

Barometer values above 100 indicate above-trend trade volumes, while values below 100 suggest that goods trade has either fallen below trend or is likely to decline in the near future.

The surge in demand for electronic components related to AI investment may have partly offset the negative impact of the Middle East conflict, the report said.

Of all the component indices of the barometer, the electronic components index stood at 105.5, which has "risen firmly above trend," while the other indices were near their common baseline value of 100, according to the report.

The highly predictive export orders index stayed slightly above the baseline at 100.5.

In its most recent Global Trade Outlook and Statistics Report released in March, the WTO projected that merchandise trade would grow by 1.9 percent in 2026 under a baseline scenario, a significant slowdown from 2025.

The organization noted that if energy prices continue to rise, global goods trade growth could fall by 0.5 percentage points to 1.4 percent, while sustained AI investment could add 0.5 percentage points to the growth rate.

Global goods trade remains resilient despite Middle East conflict: WTO