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UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (Press Release)—The United Nations appealed today for $55 million to reconstruct the Nahr el-Bared camp for Palestinian refugees in northern Lebanon, which was badly damaged during months of intense combat between the Lebanese army and Fatah el-Islam gunmen.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Geir O. Pedersen told a donor meeting for Nahr el-Bared, being held in Beirut, that “thousands of displaced Palestinian and Lebanese civilians” now depend on the support of the international community to restart their lives.

“We, the United Nations, will continue to assist and support the people affected by the conflict to the best of our ability,” he said, adding later that “we count on the continued support of the international donor community to ensure that the recovery and reconstruction phase will move forward rapidly and effectively.”

Earlier this month the Lebanese army announced that it seized full control of Nahr el-Bared from the Fatah el-Islam gunmen group, which it began fighting in May, forcing most of the camp’s estimated 31,000 residents, including about 8,000 classified by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as special hardship cases, to flee to the nearby Beddawi camp and other areas.

In his statement, Mr. Pedersen voiced the UN’s support “to the Lebanese Government, the army, the Lebanese people and the Palestinian refugees and the PLO for the courage, determination and unity with which they have faced and overcome the challenges posed by the criminal aggression of Fatah el-Islam.”

How Colonel Moyal is making IDF personnel physically fit

JERUSALEM (Press Release)--Since the days of the Palmach, Israeli soldiers have represented the pinnacle of physical fitness to the world.   In all the songs the soldiers were referred to "the fair of hair and complexion.”

However, sometime in the 90's the trend began to change. Male soldiers no longer looked like Michelangelo's David and studies showed female soldiers put on weight during service. This phenomenon is not specific only to the IDF but is standard in most other countries as well.   The IDF, on many occasions attempted to combat this problem but the results were not satisfactory. Two years ago, those responsible for the general fitness and health of IDF soldiers, decided to once again press the issue of improving the soldiers' physical image.  After all, a healthy soldier is an efficient soldier.

The IDF Medical Corps decided to take responsibility not only in treating and curing ailments, but also in preventing them.   Medics were trained in prevention methods as part of a new program. In November of 2006 the first class of disease prevention medics graduated the newly established course.   These medics, with one or more designated to every base, are responsible for educating the soldiers about having a healthy lifestyle, organizing lectures by nutrition specialists and create a support system for soldiers trying to quit smoking.

These medics are also responsible for organizing daylong seminars on health for their bases and for sanitary inspection of the bases' facilities.

An emphasis was put on improving the soldiers' physical wellbeing throughout the corps of the IDF, and the human resources branch to oversee the matter established a special commission.   The commission is responsible for coordinating the many branches of the IDF in establishing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle regimen in the army:   The Logistics branch is responsible for provision of food and the medical corps and the combat fitness center are responsible for the soldiers' fitness. Colonel Dr. Avi Moyal, who began his position as head of the combat fitness center in February of this year, has been working on the issue of improving physical fitness during his 30 years of service, well before the issue was brought up formally in the IDF. (Jump to continuation)