UNICEF warns children are paying the heaviest price as Lebanon violence surges

Seven children have been killed and 38 others injured in a single day as renewed airstrikes hit multiple areas across Lebanon, triggering a fresh wave of mass displacement and pushing an already stretched humanitarian response to its limits, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said. In those same 24 hours, nearly 60,000 people — including 18,000 children — were newly displaced, adding to the tens of thousands already uprooted from their homes.

Over 12,000 families have taken shelter in more than 300 collective sites opened across the country, with dozens already at full capacity. UNICEF has deployed Rapid Response Teams to shelters to distribute life-saving supplies and expanded its mobile Primary Healthcare Satellite Units to 37 teams providing consultations, immunisation and urgent health support to displaced families. Hospital services are being sustained to ensure the most vulnerable children can still access neonatal and paediatric intensive care.

“No child should ever be killed or be left to bear the lifelong physical and emotional scars of violence,” said Marcoluigi Corsi, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon. “The violence must stop. Children must always be protected.”

In shelters, UNICEF and partners are prioritising psychosocial support, child protection services and learning continuity through remote education platforms, while child protection teams work to identify unaccompanied and separated children.

Emergency cash assistance is being prepared for up to 45,000 vulnerable families, building on existing national social protection systems. Nutrition supplies are being pre-positioned as needs continue to grow. Yet funding remains a critical bottleneck — UNICEF’s Response and Preparedness Plan requires $48 million to reach one million people, and only 16% has been received so far.

UNICEF is calling on all parties to honour their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect civilians — especially children — and ensure safe, unhindered access for humanitarian operations across the country.