News / Lebanon

UNICEF says Israeli strikes ‘catastrophic’ for children of Lebanon

Tuesday, 24 September 2024 3:07 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 September 2024 3:47 PM ]

Lebanese citizens who fled from the southern villages sit in a pick-up in Beirut, September 24, 2024. (AP)

UNICEF has warned that any further escalation would be “catastrophic” for Lebanon’s children, particularly those displaced by Israel’s relentless airstrikes on the Arab country.

“On Monday alone, at least 35 children were reportedly killed in Lebanon. This is more than the number of children killed in Lebanon in the past 11 months. Eleven months in one day. 35 children, in one day among 492 reportedly killed,” UNICEF deputy representative to Lebanon Ettie Higgins told a UN press briefing in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday.

Higgins said “countless more children are in danger as I speak, exposed to ongoing attacks, displaced from their homes and unable to rely on an overstretched and under-sourced health system.”

غارة إسرائيلية على منطقة الغبيري في الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت #lebanon24 pic.twitter.com/dkYJ9SXmZw
— Lebanon 24 (@Lebanon24) September 24, 2024

“This violence has to stop immediately or the consequences will be unconscionable.”

“Schools are closed today across the country, leaving children at home in fear. Their caregivers are themselves afraid of the uncertainty of the situation.”

“If we return to a conflict, like those dark days of 2006, I fear this time could be even worse for the children of Lebanon.”

Families in Lebanon are already “at the brink” due to economic and political crisis, the UN official said.

UNICEF is on the ground now, providing lifesaving supplies. But without a permanent ceasefire, Lebanon is at risk of a full scale war.

غارة على منطقة #الغبيري في #الضاحية_الجنوبية ل #بيروت pic.twitter.com/2tXqYPGWSb
— adel samia (@adelsamia) September 24, 2024

Israel has killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, in Lebanon since Monday.

Residents of villages in southern Lebanon have shared images on social media depicting their towns under attack, prompting thousands to flee southern Lebanon and causing significant traffic jam on the main highway leading to Beirut.

The psychopathic bombardment has produced an outpouring of condemnation across the globe.

The Israeli strikes came less than a week after the regime coordinated sabotage attacks targeting resistance movement Hezbollah’s communication devices.

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