On Tuesday, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) urged Lebanese authorities to adopt urgent measures to protect the country from the repercussions of the conflict in Gaza.
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"In Lebanon, a development response to the crisis needs to be intrinsically linked to implementing much-needed reforms to bring the economy back on its feet," said Abdallah Al Dardari, director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the UNDP, in a report.
Titled "Gaza War: Preliminary Findings on the Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact on Lebanon," the report said that vital economic sectors that provide employment and income to a large population, namely tourism, services, and agriculture, have been hit hardest.
The tourism and service sectors had shown weak performance since the beginning of the conflict on Oct. 7 amid a decline in the number of arriving passengers and demand for hotel and restaurant services.
Meanwhile, significant losses were reported in the agriculture sector in the conflict-affected southern Lebanon, with 47,000 olive trees reportedly burnt, 200,000 birds, 700 heads of livestock killed, and 250 beehives and 60 greenhouses destroyed, said the report.
"This preliminary analysis provides a snapshot of the human, socio-economic, and environmental tragedy as it unfolds in real-time," said Melanie Hauenstein, UNDP resident representative for Lebanon.
"This helps to inform the provision of immediate socio-economic and livelihood support, while taking a longer view of the development needs of these communities and providing a baseline for a more sustainable recovery."
In the past three months, 1,768 attacks have occurred in 91 villages in Lebanon, displacing about 64,000 people and causing extensive damage to houses, businesses, and infrastructure.