World Food Programme warns Lebanon facing food security crisis due to Iran war

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, April 10 (Reuters) - Lebanon is facing a food security crisis as the Iran war disrupts supplies of goods inside the country, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday.

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran showed further strain on Friday, a day before they are expected ​to negotiate in Pakistan, as Washington accused Tehran of breaching promises on the Strait of Hormuz and Israel struck Lebanon with attacks that Iran has ‌claimed violate the truce.

"What we're witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis," said World Food Programme country director Allison Oman, speaking via video link from Beirut.

She warned that food was becoming increasingly unaffordable due to rising food prices and rising demand among displaced families.

Lebanon faces a two-layered crisis, in which some markets have fully collapsed - especially in the south, where more than 80% of markets are no longer functioning - while those in Beirut are under increasing strain, Oman said.

Many traders are reporting less than one week of essential food stocks remaining, she added.

The ability to deliver food aid into hard-to-reach areas in the south, which has faced heavy bombardment by Israeli airstrikes since March 2, was becoming increasingly difficult.

A WFP convoy that entered the south this week took over 15 hours, when it normally should have taken hours.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Miranda Murray)