Germany’s Development Minister Svenja Schulze arrived in Lebanon on Monday for a short visit to pledge further aid to the country, which has been severely affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
In mid-October, the Bundestag provided her ministry with an additional €60 million ($65.4 million) to be used to provide health care, food and clean drinking water for the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and refugees.
“It is in the interest of Lebanon to stabilize the situation here, but it is also in Germany’s interest,” said Schulze after talks with Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut.
“If the Middle East and Lebanon in particular become even more destabilized, we will definitely notice it in Germany too.”
The current war between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8 last year with rocket attacks by the Lebanese militia in support of Hamas, which triggered the Gaza war with its attack on Israel the day before.
Since then, Hezbollah and Israel’s military have been engaged in heavy fighting. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, around 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon so far.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. The United Nations says more than 800,000 people have been displaced in the country as a result of the attacks. In addition, there are around 1.2 million refugees from Syria’s civil war still in Lebanon.
