Egypt has sent a new batch of aid to Lebanon. The country’s largest religious authorities – the Coptic Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar – loaded two planes with tons of supplies as part of Egypt’s commitment to the previously-established air bridge.
The two planes arrived in Beirut-Rafik Hariri International Airport carrying 27 tons of foodstuffs, wheat flour, medicine, and other aid that 11 civil society institutions in Egypt contributed to providing.
“Today, these shipments express the depth of the relationship that binds the Egyptian and Lebanese people,” said Father Gabi Hashem, Director of the Theological Affairs and Ecumenical Affairs Department at the Middle East Council of Churches.
Father Hashem received the shipment alongside Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Yasser Alawi and several other representatives.
In his turn, Ambassador Alawi stressed that Egypt would not abandon Lebanon as it goes through the devastating aftermath of the Beirut Port explosion.
The aforementioned two included, Egypt has so far sent a total of 12 aid planes to Lebanon since the August 4th blast.
The aircraft have been sent successively after Egypt established an air bridge in Beirut, which is meant to serve four phases of support for Lebanon.
The first phase included medical aid, the second included medical and food aid, and the third saw numerous Egyptian doctors and surgical teams travel to Beirut in order to assist the afflicted country’s medical response to the calamity.
It’s worth noting that right after the blast, Egypt set up a field hospital in Beirut and began receiving casualties to reduce the pressure on the city’s overwhelmed hospitals.
Egyptian aid will continue to flow into Lebanon through the air bridge until August 26th.
After that, the fourth, generally slower phase will involve reconstruction efforts and sending building materials and tools to help rebuild the Lebanese capital, which sustained extensive damage from the explosion.
