Save the Children has reported that the Israeli regime has killed an average of seven children per day in Lebanon since March. The relief organization released a statement on Wednesday highlighting the ongoing threat to children despite agreements aimed at ending the hostilities.
According to the statement, over the past six months, the Israeli regime has killed at least 4,300 people, wounded over 12,000, and destroyed between 60 and 70 villages. The death toll includes at least 257 children, with 1,039 injured.
Nora Ingdal, Save the Children's country director in Lebanon, urged the international community not to allow continued attacks, displacement, restrictions on return, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure to become the new normal for children in Lebanon.
At the peak of the conflict, more than one million people were displaced in southern Lebanon. Despite a ceasefire signed in June, over 348,800 people remain unable to return home, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The cross-border strikes between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime began following the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. A tentative ceasefire was reached in November 2024 after the Israeli regime seized large areas of southern Lebanon, but its forces continue to occupy many areas and have repeatedly violated the truce.
The deal largely collapsed after Hezbollah launched a rocket and drone attack on an Israeli military base on March 2, purportedly in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Lebanese government and the Israeli regime reached a framework agreement in June, but Hezbollah has rejected it unless the Israeli regime fully withdraws from Lebanese territory.
Save the Children noted that even for children who have returned home, barriers to essential services like schools and hospitals persist. A national assessment by Lebanon's Ministry of Education found that 340 schools have been damaged or destroyed in the past six months.
At least 100,000 children are at risk of missing the next school year without urgent action to restore Lebanon's schools, the organization warned.
Source: www.aljazeera.com