Middle East

Unicef says conflict has forced 90,000 from their homes in southern Lebanon

The UN children’s agency says a full-scale war with Israel would affect 1.3m children in the already financially devastated country

A man stands on a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Hanine village, south Lebanon, on April 26th. Photograph: Mohammad Zaatari/AP

Michael Jansen
Wed May 1 2024 - 16:21

Hostilities in southern Lebanon between Hizbullah and Israel have devastated the lives of 90,000 people, including 30,000 children, who have been driven from their homes since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, according to the UN children’s agency Unicef.

While Hizbullah has said it will stop fighting once there is a Gaza truce, Israel has vowed to drive Hizbullah from the border zone.

“Should this conflict continue to escalate, the repercussions for children will be devastating,” said Unicef spokesman James Elder, who introduced the report at a Geneva press conference on Tuesday. He called for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, warning that a full-scale war would affect 1.3 million children in Lebanon. He said half of Lebanese children already live below the poverty line, Syrian refugee children suffer “extreme poverty,” and children in Palestinian camps face “trauma and anxiety.”

Unicef’s Ettie Higgins said there has been a three-fold increase of children joining the agency’s malnutrition programmes, although there has been a “massive collapse” in funding for Unicef in Lebanon and the agency has cut back “virtually all of our services”.

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Lebanon’s Unicef representative Edouard Beigbeder said: “As the conflict impacting the south of Lebanon is in its seventh month, we are deeply concerned by the situation of children and families who have been forced from their homes, and the profound long-term impact the violence is taking on children’s safety, health and access to education.”

The report cited Lebanon’s health ministry, which said eight children were among the 344 people killed and 75 children among the 1,359 injured in cross-border shelling, bombing and drone attacks. Agencies report that most of those killed and wounded have been Hizbullah fighters.

Civilian infrastructure and essential services accessed by families have been affected. Nine water-pumping stations serving 100,000 people have been damaged, 70 schools have been shuttered, denying 20,000 children education, and 23 healthcare facilities serving 4,000 people have closed.

The report pointed out that, before the hostilities, Lebanon’s essential services, including health and education systems, were on the brink of collapse. This began in 2019 when Lebanon’s unprecedented financial and economic crises created power outages, shortages of medication, unemployment, loss of income and high inflation.

The report said Unicef and its partners have delivered medical supplies, hygiene kits, nutritional supplements, fuel, water, water tanks, winter clothing, blankets and food to displaced families living in shelters. In co-operation with Lebanon’s social affairs ministry a single emergency cash delivery benefited 85,000 people. This enabled children to return to public schools, buy school supplies and pay for transportation.

Mr Beigbeder said: “We must redouble our efforts to make sure every child in Lebanon is in school and learning, is protected from physical and mental harm, and has the opportunity to thrive and contribute to society.”

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen contributes news from and analysis of the Middle East to The Irish Times

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