The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), the relief and development arm of the Anglican Church of Canada, has sent $25,000 in response to an appeal made by a global alliance of churches sending relief to civilians uprooted by the Israeli offensive in Lebanon. Action by Churches Together (ACT) International has set an appeal target of $4.8 million US ($5.5 million Cdn) to help provide emergency relief and assistance to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese left homeless after heavy fighting erupted July 12 between Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Church leaders worldwide have called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, in which more than 400 Lebanese and about 50 Israelis have died. Nearly a third of the casualties from both sides have been children, according to media reports quoting United Nations emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland. Israel had launched a massive air campaign against Lebanon after a Hezbollah raid that killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two others. The Israeli military operations targeted all regions of Lebanon, but focused on the south and the southern suburbs of Beirut, a heavily-populated area, ACT International said in its report. ACT International has been providing emergency aid through one of its members, the Middle East Council of Churches. It has been sharing food supplies and supplementary nutrition for children, providing mattresses and beddings as well as cleaning and sanitary supplies. ACT International said money sent to the appeal will be used to provide food rations to 6,650 families (about 40,000 people), supplementary food to 13,300 infants and children, mattresses and beddings to 4,000 families, cleaning supplies to 6,500 families, kitchen utensils to 100 displacement centers, clean water to 40,000 people, diapers to 13,300 babies, among others.
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