U.N. Seeks Funds to Rebuild S. Lebanon
GENEVA — The United Nations launched an urgent appeal Friday for $28.7 million to rebuild schools and homes in southern Lebanon damaged by an Israeli blitz last month.
But a senior U.N. aid official announcing the appeal conceded that if bombings by pro-Iranian guerrillas again draw Israeli retaliation, it might be hard to persuade donor countries to give money for immediate reconstruction.
But Robert Souria, who headed a weeklong U.N. mission to devastated areas of Lebanon, urged donor nations to contribute as “a gesture of solidarity for the stability of Lebanon.â€
About 1,500 homes were destroyed and 16,000 damaged in late July by Israeli attacks to avenge the killing of seven of its soldiers over three weeks, according to the U.N. document.
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