The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 83 children have been killed and 254 injured in the past seven days in Lebanon as renewed hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel intensify.
Gatekeepers News reports that the conflict, which began in October 2023 and escalated significantly in late 2024 after a ceasefire collapsed, worsened last week amid rising tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
Reports indicate that Hezbollah launched rockets and drones toward Israel following the assassination of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel subsequently carried out large-scale airstrikes across Lebanon, including in the capital, Beirut, triggering evacuations in dozens of villages and causing widespread civilian displacement.
Local Iranian media also reported that 53 people were killed and 63 injured when an Israeli strike hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab in Hormozgan Province, southern Iran, on February 28.
In a statement issued on Monday, Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the escalating violence has triggered mass displacement across Lebanon.
According to him, nearly 700,000 people — including about 200,000 children — have been forced from their homes.
“The continuous escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and the devastating toll it is taking on children are gravely concerning,” Beigbeder said.
“According to the latest reports, at least 83 children have been killed and 254 wounded since 2 March, as hostilities have intensified.”
He added that more than 10 children have been killed each day across Lebanon in the past week, while about 36 children are injured daily.
Beigbeder said the impact of the prolonged conflict on children has been severe.
“Over the past 28 months, 329 children have reportedly been killed in Lebanon and 1,632 injured.”
He noted that in just six days the number of children killed had increased by 25 percent, bringing the total to 412 deaths.
“These figures are staggering and a stark testament to the toll that conflict is taking on children,” he said.
Beigbeder warned that ongoing military strikes continue to put children at extreme risk.
“Families are fleeing their homes in fear, and thousands of children are now sleeping in cold and overcrowded shelters,” he said.
He added that the latest wave of displacement has compounded the hardship of tens of thousands already uprooted by earlier rounds of fighting.
Beigbeder called on all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools and shelters, and to respect international humanitarian law.
“UNICEF urges immediate efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent further harm to children,” he said.
