Displaced Lebanese suffering food shortages -WFP

ROME, July 20 (Reuters) Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon, fleeing their homes because of Israeli bombing, are finding it increasingly difficult to find food and other essentials, the UN's World Food Programme said today.

''Damage to roads and bridges has almost completely disrupted the food supply chain, hurting large numbers of the displaced,'' said Amer Daoudi, leader of the WFP assessment team in Beirut.

At least 306 people in Lebanon and 29 in Israel have been killed in the conflict between Israel and militant group Hizbollah.

There was no sign today Israel and Hizbollah were ready to heed the Beirut government's pleas for an immediate halt to the war that, according to its estimates, has displaced half a million people.

WFP said it was increasingly concerned about those cut off by the conflict, particularly in southern Lebanon.

''If the security situation continues to deteriorate, many more people will leave their homes and need humanitarian assistance,'' said Naila Sabra, WFP's Regional Director for the Middle East and Central Asia.

The agency said many of those who had fled were sheltering in public buildings such as schools and community centres.

It added it was finalising an emergency plan to reach the hardest hit people, most of them women and children. It would form part of a planned UN Flash Appeal to be issued in the next few days.

REUTERS MQA PM1942