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The EU is mobilising all the emergency response tools at its disposal to support people affected by the ongoing crisis in Lebanon.

Following a request for assistance from Bosnia and Herzegovina on 5 October, the EU has deployed search and rescue teams and sent emergency supplies to support first responders dealing with flash floods and landslides.

Today, Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič met with Canada’s Minister of Trade Mary Ng to discuss the strengthening of EU and Canada cooperation on crisis response efforts.

This new emergency aid package will provide urgent food assistance, shelter and health care amongst other essential support. The Commission is also facilitating the delivery of material assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to Beirut.

Amid ongoing hostilities in Lebanon, over 100,000 civilians, including Lebanese and Syrians have crossed into Syria in search of shelter. The majority of those crossing, notably women and children, are traveling on foot and urgently require humanitarian assistance.

This is the 5th operation under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, following the activation of the Mechanism by the World Health Organization (WHO) to medically evacuate Palestinian patients from Gaza to Europe.

Following Greece's activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre has immediately mobilised 3 firefighting aircraft from the rescEU emergency reserves. The planes, mobilised from Croatia and Italy, have already arrived in Greece.

EU IR24 will test the EU’s preparedness and ability to respond to complex crises of a hybrid nature with internal and external dimensions. The scenario will simulate a multilayered crisis to assess the EU’s existing crisis management capabilities.

Today, the European Commission published the results of an opinion survey showing that the majority of EU citizens believe need more information to prepare for disasters and emergencies.