“The committee sent the fifth batch of humanitarian aid to the Lebanese people, which comes in response to the call of the religious authority in Najaf, to contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Lebanese people and securing their humanitarian needs,” Hashem al-Shami, a member of the Shiite religious authority, said in a statement.
The aid includes “8,000 food packages and 16,000 blankets, in conjunction with the drop of temperatures, as well as meat and various food items,” according to Shami, who added that the aid is being sent through Syria.
Iraq has received over 16,000 Lebanese refugees since Israel intensified its strikes on Lebanon, labeling them as “guests of Iraq.” A large majority of them are staying in the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, where they are being aided by religious authorities in addition to the Iraqi government.
Israel’s conflict with Lebanon intensified after nearly a year of war in the Gaza Strip to remove pro-Iran Hezbollah fighters from southern Lebanon and allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from the north by the Lebanese group’s constant rocket and drone strikes to return safely to their homes.
In late October, an Iraqi migration and displacement ministry official said that between five to ten buses carrying Lebanese refugees enter Iraq daily through the al-Qaim border crossing with Syria.
