Beirut, Asharq Al Awsat – The Lebanese army called on all retired officers and soldiers, as well as those who completed their compulsory military service, to help with the relief effort, according to a decision by Defense Minister, Elias al Mur, on Tuesday.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the army’s guidance administration said doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers and drivers were especially encouraged to volunteer themselves.

Despite increasing criticism about the relief effort across the worst-hit areas, especially in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the president of Al Ghobayri municipality, Mohammed Said al Khansa, said on Tuesday, “Despite the scale of the destruction and the number of displaced people in the southern suburbs, we have not received any significant aid from the Higher Relief Committee.”

“The municipal council, as soon as the Israeli aggression started, established special relief, health and police committees, in order to reduce the impact of the attacks.”

He added, “The municipality has distributed drinking water to houses in Al Ghobayri and carried out the necessary maintenance works to ensure water was reaching the area. It also distributed hundreds of mattresses, blankets and food parcels to inhabitants, at its own expense.”

Meanwhile, 500 tons of humanitarian aid from the UNHCR has not left the Lebanese-Syrian border, for fear of being targeted by Israeli warplanes. According to a UN report, the consignment includes five thousand tents, twenty thousand beds and basic food provisions.

According to UN figures, 210,000 people crossed the border into Syria in the last two weeks, including a 100,000 Lebanese.