Findings by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) show that despite the declared ceasefire, at least 11 children are killed or injured in Lebanon on average every day. The organization stated that in the past week alone, 15 children were killed and 62 others were injured in the country.
In a statement issued on Friday, May 29, UNICEF described the number of child casualties in Lebanon as “shocking.” The organization emphasized that under international humanitarian law, children must be protected in all circumstances of war.
Ricardo Pires, a UNICEF spokesperson, told a news conference in Geneva: “According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, 77 children have been killed or injured in just the past week.” He added that this means an average of 11 children have been harmed every 24 hours.
The UN official said: “We have found that the overwhelming majority of these children were injured in airstrikes in southern Lebanon.” According to him, on Thursday alone, seven children were killed and another 30 were injured.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese group, was supposed to take effect on April 17, but it has never been fully observed. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and justify their attacks by citing the other side’s breaches.
Ricardo Pires said that since the ceasefire was announced, Israel has killed a total of 55 children and injured another 212.
He called on all parties to fully respect the ceasefire and to comply with international humanitarian law under all circumstances, which requires the protection of children and civilian infrastructure at all times.
The conflict between Israel and Lebanon has intensified again after 15 months of ceasefire efforts. The fighting escalated when Hezbollah launched missiles into northern Israel following the outbreak of the war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.
According to reports, since March 2, Israel has launched a large-scale military campaign against southern Lebanon through repeated airstrikes and continued ground operations. In recent days, Israel has reportedly issued evacuation warnings several times to large areas of the southern coastal city of Tyre and carried out heavy attacks in those areas.
Writer:Salima Hakimi
