Toronto, October 29, 2024 – Over 100 children have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in five weeks of war – an average of two children a day – said Save the Children. In the latest violence, at least 60 people, including two children, were killed overnight on Monday in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, one of the deadliest incidents in the Bekaa since conflict escalated on 23 September.
More than one million people – about one fifth of the population – have been forcibly displaced from their homes and about 2,700 people, including over 150 children, killed and more than 12,500 injured since October last year according to the Ministry of Public Health.
Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Children’s Country Director in Lebanon said:
“We’re plunging into a humanitarian crisis that is first and foremost a children’s crisis. We’re starting to see the same pattern we’ve witnessed in over a year of war in Gaza: mass casualty events with civilians, including children; health workers killed while on duty; more than 50 attacks on healthcare facilities; UN installations attacked, and journalists targeted.
“Israeli airstrikes have expanded into densely populated areas, severely damaging critical infrastructure and creating mass displacement. The conflict has left over 25% of Lebanon under Israeli military displacement orders. On a daily basis, evacuation warnings are issued, many with little notice, giving families little time to escape before bombardments begin. In Beirut, we’re still seeing thousands of displaced children and families sleeping in the open air with their belongings piled around them, unable to find shelter or a safe place to go.
“The longer the conflict lasts, the more challenging it will be for children to regain a sense of normalcy. Six out of 10 public schools have been repurposed as shelters for the displaced, with the beginning of the school year now postponed to November 4, and possibly longer. Every day away from the classroom, is a growing threat to children’s long-term physical and mental wellbeing. By law, children must be off-limits in war and must be protected. There is no time to waste, we urgently need a ceasefire now.”
ENDS
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