Ruptly
"Hank’s BBQ in Beirut has launched an initiative to distribute free burger meals to people displaced in the ongoing Middle East conflict, linking the effort symbolically to developments in southern Lebanon. The campaign, started by restaurant owner Mohammad Delbani, is based on the idea of providing 100 meals for every Israeli Merkava tank reportedly targeted during the war - a gesture he says is intended to show solidarity with those affected by the fighting. Footage filmed on Wednesday shows staff inside the restaurant preparing large quantities of sandwiches for distribution. "It started as a personal initiative, based on the idea that for every Merkava tank targeted, we would distribute 100 burger meals. In this way, I was indirectly helping my family and my people, and sharing a bit of the hardship they are going through," Delbani explained. “As you can see, instead of 100 burgers a day, we are now distributing 1,000, 1,500, even 800 meals daily, depending on capacity,” he added. Delbani said the meals are distributed across shelters and residential areas hosting displaced families. "These are delivered every day to people in schools and homes. There are also people who come to collect their shares themselves, and all love and respect to them - they are our guests, not displaced people at all.” The initiative comes as Lebanon faces a deepening humanitarian crisis amid escalating regional conflict. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than one million people have been displaced since early March, with many forced to flee from southern regions and the Bekaa Valley to Beirut and northern areas. “The young men in the south - they are part of us, and we are part of them. This creates a kind of challenge, whether they are aware of it or not. But if the news reaches them, they will certainly be happy about it. There is something like an indirect challenge between them and us: they target, and we distribute burgers,” Delbani said. Tensions in the Middle East have escalated following joint military operations carried out by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28, at a time when diplomatic talks were underway aimed at “limiting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.” Tehran responded by launching strikes targeting Israel and US military sites in the region, with reports of explosions in several Gulf countries. The confrontations also extended to Hezbollah in Lebanon, after it announced its intervention in the war “in vengeance” for the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei."
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