Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill or wound 11 children daily11 children daily, UN says
Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday, after Israel declared a new swathe of the area a combat zone.
The UN children’s agency said on Friday that, on average, 11 children have been killed or wounded every 24 hours in Lebanon over the past week.
The toll underscores the continuing danger to civilians and the fragility of the cease-fire amid wider fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
UN and aid agencies
UNICEF is presenting the pattern of child casualties as evidence that civilians are bearing a heavy cost from the fighting in Lebanon. Its warning is aimed at drawing attention to the scale of harm even when the conflict is not making headlines globally.
Israeli position
Israel says it is widening operations in an area it has described as a combat zone. From that view, the strikes are part of military action against threats along the border, despite the civilian harm reported by the UN.
Lebanese civilian perspective
People in southern Lebanon are facing repeated strikes while living under the uncertainty of a cease-fire that has not brought full calm. The reported child toll adds pressure on local communities already coping with displacement and fear.
- UNICEF won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for its humanitarian work.
- Lebanon hosts one of the world’s largest refugee populations relative to its size.
- The Israel-Hezbollah border area has seen repeated flare-ups since the 1980s.
Israel-Lebanon War
Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a 60-day ceasefire that mandates Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon while the Lebanese army deploys across all border crossings and the south.
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